Portugal implements another delay on its tax plans for single-use aluminum packaging

04 Sep 2023 --- The Portuguese government has again postponed introducing a €30 cent (US$0.32) tax on single-use aluminum packaging or multi-material packaging with aluminum. 

The amendment was published in the Diário da República, Portugal’s official gazette. The tax has been applied to plastic packaging for over a year, beginning in July 2022. 

The 30 cent tax was initially set for January 1, 2023. However, at the end of last year, the government postponed the date to September 1, and has now extended it to the beginning of 2024.

The government says that the postponement is “taking into account the constraints expressed by various economic agents, as well as the need to extend the scope of this ordinance to other materials.”

Postponed aluminum tax
Regarding the date pushback, the ordinance read: “It is considered essential to ensure, immediately, the extension of the production of effects for the application of the contribution on single-use packaging made of aluminum or multimaterial with aluminum.”

The date change was signed by the Secretaries of State for Tax Affairs, Nuno Félix and for the Environment, Hugo Pires.

Portugal has extended the date to impose a 30 cent tax on aluminum packaging.Countries around Europe have been postponing similar schemes of taxes on single-use products. Many deposit return schemes (DRS) have been postponed. For example, Scotland’s DRS plans have been continuously delayed – now until October 2025, at the earliest, after the UK government refused to include glass in the scheme.

Ministers in London feared that if Scotland rolled out its plans ahead of the rest of the UK, it could violate the post-Brexit Internal Market Act. DRS plans in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are far behind those of Scotland, and an earlier implementation in one nation could create trade barriers and price differences across borders.

Delayed DRS
Last month, retailers called on the UK government to review its plans to introduce the DRS for drink containers. New research from the British Retail Consortium showed that the scheme will likely cost the industry at least £1.8 billion (US$2.3 billion) annually starting in 2025.

However, A UK town announced it would roll out a 12-week digital deposit return scheme (DDRS) designed to test how the technology could encourage recycling. As the “world-first” full-town DDRS trial, the Welsh town of Brecon dubbed the Scan Recycle Reward project.

Wales reportedly boasts relatively high recycling rates and a full DRS is expected to be implemented in 2025. The country is now trialing DDRS to boost on-the-go recycling to decrease landfill waste.

By Sabine Waldeck