Best thing since sliced bread? UK sandwich packs face 15p plastic tax

04 Dec 2018 --- A new UK tax on plastic sandwich packaging is expected to be implemented as early as this week as part of UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove’s Resource and Waste Strategy. Typical sandwich packs are notoriously difficult to recycle due to the glued bond of cardboard and plastic. Reports speculate that the funds generated by adding a 15p (US$0.19) tax to each plastic sandwich pack could be put towards recouping the recycling costs.

The UK British Sandwich & Food to Go Association estimates that UK retailers sell approximately four billion sandwiches every year. Simon Ellin, Chief Executive of the Recycling Association, sees the new tax as a positive move and an incentive for manufacturers to achieve higher levels of designed-in recyclability in sandwich packs.

“Yes, the tax makes sense,” he tells PackagingInsights. “It should force design changes. Of course, the cost could be passed on to the consumer, but if one supplier pushes forward with design innovations then they will have a price advantage. This would encourage other sandwich retailers to follow their lead.”

“We need to take a different approach to sandwich boxes. For a start, why do we need to see a sandwich? We all know what they look like. Graphic designers should be able to come up with something new and exciting that makes them attractive without relying on clear plastic panels.”

“Next, plastic liners should be replaced by a starch-based lining material. These two changes will quickly mean that a fiber-based sandwich carton becomes recyclable,” adds Ellin.

An inconsistent approach to the plastic problem?
On the other side of the debate, the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) has voiced concerns over the sandwich tax because the UK Treasury had previously stated that individual products would not be targeted as part of its April 2022 plastics tax.

“Defra (The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) by contrast appears to be disregarding this approach as well as the proposals for a reformed PRN system made by businesses, which will address the issues of increasing recycling and increasing recycled content,” comments Martin Kersh, Executive Director, FPA.

“Will Defra’s proposals for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guarantee all the funds raised be used for collection, sortation and recycling of packaging? What are the guarantees the money will be used in this way and will businesses providing this funding be given a say as to how the money is used?”

“Sandwiches appear to be one of a number of items that will be additionally charged. Given this packaging will be included in EPR, we need to understand how the additional revenue is to be used. In the case of the figures given in the press coverage, sandwich packs alone will produce revenue in excess of £500 million (US$640 million). Is this money to be used constructively or is Defra’s aim to reduce consumption and tax the working public?”

“On-the-go waste management is urgently needed and the government needs a holistic approach to the issue rather than, as we are seeing with straws and now sandwich packs, taking a piecemeal approach. We hope the Resource and Waste Strategy will provide joined-up thinking and that the press rumors are misplaced,” adds Kersh.

NGO calls for virgin plastic taxes
In November, the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) and the Resource Association issued a joint plea to the government to tax companies who continue to use virgin plastic materials for packaging purposes.

“Our oceans are choking on plastic, 90 percent of the world’s seabirds have fragments of plastic in their stomach,” says WWF Head of Marine Policy, Lyndsey Dodd.

“Despite the public outcry, more products are being made with virgin, or new, plastic than with recycled plastic. A new system is needed – where a levy on all packaging is used to reward those using the most recycled material – to incentivize the use of recycled material and support the target announced in the budget for a minimum of 30 percent recycled plastic in products. Nature is on life support, and we must act now to save it,” Dodd concludes.

In October, UK Chancellor Philip Hammond announced during the 2018 Budget speech that food and beverage companies will be taxed on plastic packaging that contains less than 30 percent recycled content.

Kenton Robbins, the Managing Director of PFF, the UK’s largest independent producer of thermoformed plastic for food packaging, explains to PackagingInsights that applying a degree of pressure to deal with plastic waste is the right thing to do, but that there are hurdles facing the UK recycling industry that will make 30 percent recycled plastic levels difficult for some companies to achieve.

Eradicating plastic altogether, November saw a London supermarket became one of the first in the world to introduce a dedicated Plastic Free Zone.

By Joshua Poole

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