How to reduce your plastic tax

Updated October 2026: the Plastic Packaging Tax has applied since 1 April 2022. From 1 April 2026 the rate is £228.82 per tonne, and from 1 April 2027 pre-consumer waste will no longer count as recycled content.

Now, more than ever, it has become imperative to reduce your plastic. As a business, there’s now an even greater financial incentive to do so; in March the government introduced the Plastic Packaging Tax, which came into effect on 1 April 2022, and levied on plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. This can equate to as much as £200 per tonne – which, for companies who are already struggling from the impact of Covid-19, will be hard to manage. 

Luckily, there are ways to make sure that your plastic packaging complies with the 30% rule that the government has outlined, and Packaging Innovations can help. We’ve been taking steps to reduce the amount of plastic packaging our customers use since our inception in 2008, and we’ve learned a thing or two along the way. Here we’ll look at ways you can safeguard your company from the plastic tax. 

Reduce the amount of plastic you use.

Answer honestly: how much plastic do you use to secure your pallets? It is estimated that 1.2 million tonnes of plastic film from packaging enters the UK waste stream every year, a third of which comes from pre-consumer sources. It’s fair to say that plastic film is a leading contributor to business waste worldwide. Improving your efficiency in this – both in terms of the quantity of plastic you use, and what it’s made from – will go a long way towards reducing how much you’ll be taxed in future. 

Packaging Innovations offer a number of solutions for this, including a smart plastic film for its pallets which can drastically reduce your plastic use. As our name suggests, we’re constantly innovating, looking for new products which are good for our customers, and the planet.

Learn more about our products.

Use more recycled plastic.

We recognise how useful plastic can be. It’s lightweight and efficient, and until a suitable alternative is found, it’s the best material we have to transport a range of goods from factories to consumers. By adopting a closed-loop recycling process, we’re able to produce plastic packaging for a range of uses – including stretch film, shrink films, pallet covers, box liners and even carrier bags – which are completely free from the plastic tax as they’re made from 30% recycled material. For you, this represents a very real cost saving in what you’d otherwise have to pay in plastic tax. 

So, what is closed-loop recycling and how does it work? In a nutshell, closed-loop recycling allows us to use our clients’ waste plastic that would otherwise be thrown away and reuse it in our products, with no negative impact on the environment. Our fresh approach to recycling has future-proofed our business, and that of our clients, to allow us to offer a range of recycled plastic packaging that’s free from any current or future plastic tax.

Learn more about closed-loop recycling

Want to find out more? Our specialists are ready, willing and able to help your business reduce your plastic, limit your exposure to plastic taxes and lower your costs now.