With the approval of the new budget law the suspension of the Plastic Tax is confirmed, at least until 2024.
This previously announced news didn't cause much surprise, especially since this is the third postponement of the so-called single-use plastic tax, which requires the payment of a €0.45 tax for each kilogram of single-use plastic products sold (MACSI).
Plastic tax: what is it?
The Plastic Tax is a tax that was foreseen by the 2020 Budget Law on single-use plastic products intended for food products.This category includes all products, defined by the acronym MACSI, designed for a single use and not to be transformed or reused during their life cycle.
A tax that would fall mainly on manufacturing companies of disposable plastic products but also on those of import and on the final consumerFortunately, however, this government has also decided to suspend the tax, at least until 2024, which, apparently, does not find agreement among the main operators in the sector, as well as the companies involved.
The (apparent) objectives of the Plastic Tax
It is not difficult to imagine the assumptions under which this proposal was born, that is discourage the use of single-use plastic products considered among the main culprits of global pollution. As we have repeatedly argued, applying additional taxes on plastic products does not eliminate the pollution problemFirst of all, we need to work on raising public awareness of these issues and on a more appropriate system for recovering and recycling materials. Furthermore, There are many other polluting factors on which more attention should be paid, as our beaches tell us, where we much more frequently find cigarette butts and debris from fishing boats.
Plastics: What the Budget Law Provides
The new budget law of the Meloni government, therefore, The Italian Government postpones the decision on the Plastic Tax for another year and confirms the recognition of a tax credit equal to 36% for expenses incurred by companies for the purchase and use of recycled materials from the separate collection of plastic packaging. and biodegradable and compostable packaging according to the UNI EN 13432 standard.
The experimental "Mangiaplastica" project, launched in 2019, is also being refinanced. This project promotes the purchase of eco-compactors by Italian municipalities. Interested municipalities can apply through a specific call for proposals.
Teamplast's point of view
As industry players, we feel particularly involved in government decisions that affect our industry. Although Teamplast does not produce single-use plastic products, we are sensitive to these issues, which often find us at odds with mainstream government policies. In Italy there is already a tax foreseen by Conai on the production and consumption of plastic materials, through which we contribute to the costs incurred for the separate collection and recycling and recovery of plastic packaging.
Furthermore, the particular and delicate historical moment we are experiencing is already putting many manufacturing companies in serious difficulty, which find themselves having to sustain increased costs on raw materials and their transformation, also due to increases in energy costs.
If we truly want to see a substantial change in terms of reducing pollution, we must continue to leverage greater consumer awareness, from the use to the proper disposal of recyclable materials. Furthermore, we should focus greater attention on the real risk factors, identifying the main culprits and continuing to invest in technological research, thanks to which it is possible to obtain increasingly sophisticated, safe, and reusable materials.
