UK Plastic Packaging Tax Revenue Down 3% as Recycled Content in Packaging Rises to 51%

Statistics from the UK’s HM Revenue and Customs revealed that Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) receipts totalled GBP 259 million (€300 million) in the financial year 2024-2025, a 3% decrease from the previous financial year.

In 2023-2024 receipts had already dropped 6% in comparison with the previous year.

The numbers show that an increasing proportion of the plastic packaging manufactured in and imported into the UK contains 30% or more recycled plastic.

In the first year of the PPT, 40% of eligible packaging contained at least 30% recycled plastic. The figure increased to 46% in 2023-2024 and to 51% in 2024-2025.

Of the total tonnage of plastic packaging manufactured in (1,740,000 tonnes) and imported into the UK (1,407,000 tonnes), 38% was declared as taxable under the PPT.

Of the remaining 62%: 51% met the 30% or more recycled plastic threshold; 11% was either exported, intended for export, or converted; and less than 1% was exempt because it was used for the immediate packaging of human medicines.

The PPT applies to manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging components which contain less than 30% recycled plastic. Plastic packaging manufacturers and importers declare their plastic packaging on fixed quarterly accounting periods ending in June, September, December and March, with returns and payments due by the last working day of the following month. The PPT went live in April 2022. As of Aug. 6, 2025, 4,927 businesses were registered to the scheme.

Despite figures indicating a larger proportion of packaging recycled content, UK plastic recyclers are facing very difficult conditions.

Yesterday Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) said the United Kingdom is one of the countries most affected by recent closures of plastic recycling plants, alongside Germany and the Netherlands. Viridor and Biffa are recent examples of planned plant closures in the country.

Responding to these conditions and PRE’s bleak analysis, Biffa has called on the UK parliament to raise the PPT recycled content threshold to 50%.

The company, one the largest UK waste management enterprises, said the measure is required to drive demand for UK recyclate.

Biffa is also calling for reform in export standards to ensure that only washed, flaked, pelletised, and sorted plastics are eligible for export.

The company also critiqued the UK’s EPR scheme for packaging, calling for an overhaul of the PRN/OERN system to level the playing field for domestic processing.

Businesses that place large amounts of packaging on the UK market are obligated to meet specific recycling targets for different materials. To meet these targets, they must purchase PRNs (Packaging Waste Recycling Notes) and PERNs (Packaging Waste Export Recycling Notes).

PRNs and PERNs are issued by recyclers and bought directly from them or via compliance schemes. Obligated brands, retailers, and manufacturers buy these as part of their responsibilities as a producer.

The value of a PRN (UK based full melt or flake reprocessing) and a PERN (the exporting of a waste bale) is the same.  However, the costs incurred in issuing a PRN are much higher than the costs relating to earning a PERN. Therefore, there is currently a financial incentive to export waste rather than process it domestically.  

Records show that UK plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries increased to 77 million kg in 2023, up from 47 million kg in 2022. Exports to Turkey increased 60% from 2022, to 141 million kg.