The European Commission has published new guidance to clarify Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations for small businesses operating across Member
The German Ministry for Finance has proposed draft legislation for a plastic tax (Plastiksteuer) for businesses with a proposed start date of July 2027. The move faces considerable pushback from business and industry associations and has yet to pass parliament.
The draft legislation sets out a cost of 550 Euro per ton of plastics in packaging. This will apply to plastic packaging, flexibles and composite packaging containing over 5% plastics, according to reports from German media outlet ARD. The tax is set to arise when taxable packaging is manufactured, brought into Germany or imported. It may not apply for recycled plastics, but this exemption has to be applied for.
With this move, the government hopes to reduce the use of plastics and create revenue for the federal budget.
The proposed new tax comes in addition to already existing national and European legislation, PPWR and Extended Producer Responsibility.
Reactions
German environmental organization DUH (Deutsche Umwelthilfe) reportedly welcomes the initiative, but underlines the importance of limiting this tax to single use packaging and not include reusable packaging. A company spokesperson also told ARD that they would encourage the tax to also apply to other packaging materials such as paper, carton and metal,
The Associations criticize a lack of transparency and warn of negative consequences for climate, consumers and jobs.
They state that it would put German companies at a “massive” competitive disadvantage and would also have negative consequences for the environment and climate. Given the "wide range of regulations already in place for plastic packaging", the associations see no need for an additional tax and point out that plastic packaging is indispensable for packaging safety, food protection, and the circular economy.
“The plastic tax is sabotage against Germany as a business location. It punishes German manufacturers for no reason. Users of plastic packaging in Germany are also affected because their foreign competitors do not have to pay the tax when they deliver to Germany,” says Dr. Martin Engelmann, CEO of IK.
Another point of criticism is that the tax doesn’t differentiate between reusable packaging, deposit systems, recyclability, or the use of recycled materials. As a result, the tax lacks any incentive towards more sustainability and could even be counter productive, as it reinforces the trend towards “difficult to recycle” fibre composites.
“The planned plastic tax doesn’t just burden manufacturers and processors of plastic packaging. It has repercussions along the entire value chain and thus also affects technology providers whose innovations enable the transition to a circular economy. Investments in modern recycling, sorting, and processing technologies are crucial for greater resource efficiency and climate protection,” explains Thorsten Kühmann, Managing Director of the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Division.
Delays
The legislation was set to pass through cabinet this week, but Thorsten Frei, Chief Whip of the Conservative CDU/CSU group in the German Bundestag, told German TV station Welt TV on October 15th that the legislation in its current form was not fit to be passed. Reportedly, 24 CDU/CSU MPs submitted their opposition to the draft legislation, which casts doubt over the legislation coming into force in July 2027.
This is an evolving story – Packaging Europe will keep you posted!
The European Commission has published new guidance to clarify Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations for small businesses operating across Member
