Plastic Packaging Tax

Would this tax be effective in reducing plastic pollution? On careful examination, this tax would seem to be unfit for purpose.

• We calculated the taxation for plastic bottles. For a 330ml bottle, there would be taxation of 0.2862p. For a 1.5l bottle, there would be taxation of 0.652p. Such scant taxation wouldn't seem to provide much incentive to use recycled plastic and could easily be passed on to consumers.
  Show the maths

  330ml bottle:

  Weight of a 330ml plastic bottle = 14.31g ⁽³⁾
  Number of 330ml plastic bottles in a tonne = 1000000/14.31 = 69881.201956674 = 69881 to 0 dp
  Taxation per 300ml plastic bottle = 200/69881.201956674 = £0.002862 = 0.2862p

  1.5l bottle:

  Weight of 1.5l bottle = 32.6g ⁽³⁾
  Number of 1.5l plastic bottles in a tonne = 1000000/32.6 = 30674.846625767 = 30675 to 0dp
  Taxation per 1.5l plastic bottle = 200/30674.846625767 = £0.00652 = 0.652p

• The government of the time stated that this tax was intended to increase the use of recycled plastic. A system of recycling plastic is not ideal (see our article on recycling and our resource, The Life of a Plastic Bottle). Recycled plastic costs more than virgin plastic. Given the lack of movement to sustainable packaging by most businesses of their own accord, it seems doubtful that they would use more than the minimum requirement of 30% recycled plastic.
• Packaging that contains less than 50% plastic by weight will not be included. Given the comparable lightness of plastic, a significant amount of packaging which contains plastic will not be taxed.
• Why 30% recycled plastic as a minimum? Given the amount of plastic currently wasted, why not 100% recycled plastic?
• As compostable and biodegradable plastics will also be taxed, there are no incentives to move away from plastics derived from fossil fuels. We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground if we are to meet climate targets.