Impact of the Upcoming EU non-recyclable plastic packaging levy on the flexible packaging market Report

Insight 04 February 2021

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Report summary

Around €6-8 billion per year is expected to flow into the European Union’s general budget from the new €0.80/kg levy calculated on the weight of non-recycled plastic packaging waste. The levy was implemented on 1 January 2021, and contributions will vary greatly across member countries. Read this Insight to learn more about the impact across EU nations, and what the changes mean for various films and packaging types. We address our expectations for film substitution, potential cost implications, and impact to several end-use sectors.

EU Plastic Tax
- Industry trade associations openly disagree with the new measure
- Country-by-country plastic tax collection measures
Impact to Flexible Packaging markets
- What does this mean for flex packaging?
- What types of flexible packaging are affected?
- What films will be more affected?
- What end-uses typically use multimaterial structures?
Flexible packaging: trends expected going forward
- Monomaterial and PCR content in flexible packaging – a trend that is here to stay
- The flexible packaging sector could lose its relative cost advantage
- We could see a shift to other materials (sustainable or not) to avoid additional plastic cost
- Cost increases will eventually be passed on to the end-consumer
- The EU levy should be at least partly invested into developing a circular economy - but will it?
- The EU levy should be a temporary issue, as we move towards a circular economy