Let's talk about the plastic tax.
The plastic tax (more information here) is going to have a great impact on the upcoming years, so what's is the plastic tax?
The plastic tax is due to be introduced in April as is intended to reduce our reliance on plastics by putting a HMRC ( the UK tax body) tax on plastics per tonne ( currently £200 per tonne) as a way on encouraging businesses to use more recycled plastics ( set at 30%).
So if you don't have 30% plastics in your product you pay an extra tax, which sounds good on paper, but like all of these things , the devil is in the detail.
Does The Pure Option support the plastic tax?
Initially we thought it was the answer to the problem of plastics and taxing harmful plastics would encourage the UK packaging industry to move to a more sustainable direction but sadly the implementation is the issue.
The bit that shocked us and will probably shock you is, that The Pure Options™ plant based products incur the tax because we can't and won't add plastic to our products , our products are designed to replace plastics as they are 100% plant based , so adding recycled plastics would eliminate all the benefits of our products, they would no longer be genuinely biodegradable ( I appreciate this is pretty cryptic , if you want to see a more about what biodegradable means, visit our FAQ's for clarification) , they wouldn't be compostable and they certainly wouldn't benefit the environment they are disposed of in.
Does that mean that The Pure Option™ products are a problem?
They are certainly being treated as a problem and yet all of our products are made from plants so they shouldn't be put in the same category with a problem material like petrol based plastics and this is the bit that surprised us, other countries like Holland who have introduced a plastic tax have treated plant based materials as a solution and not a problem.
Is this a missed opportunity?
The reality is , it's a huge own goal for the UK , as this makes the UK a hostile place for businesses that are looking at the solution rather than re-using a problem material.
A number of businesses in our industries have been sold to overseas companies ( as far as we are aware we are the only 100% UK based and UK owned company left in our sector) so it is certainly hurting our industry in the UK.
What would of made a difference?
An exclusion and promotion of plant based materials would of created the environment for UK industry to move to a sustainable option and invest in future plant based materials.
The current system just means we recycle more of the problem and not removing the problem, we hate barrier based solutions and this is a big barrier to creating the right economic environment to create future solutions to the problem in the UK.
So to summaries , the Plastic Tax is a missed opportunity to reduce or even eliminate our reliance on petrol based plastics.
