In a meeting at K 2019, the three President of the European plastics industry association, Renato Zelcher from EuPC, Javier Constante from PlasticsEurope, and Ton Emans from PRE, have agreed to oppose the Italian Government’s tax proposal of €1000 per tonne of plastic packaging.
They argue the proposed Plastics Packaging Tax is likely to have a negative impact on the local market, in terms of job losses and consumers being negatively affected by such a regressive tax.
Italy is the second biggest producer of plastic products after Germany and the tax would put in jeopardy the economic situation of 50,000 workers and the survival of 2,000 SMEs in the value chain, according to the Italian Federation of Workers.
The National Federation of Consumers estimate that such a tax could mean households may spend up to €140 more per year.
Zelcher, who is also the CEO of an Italian flexible packaging company, said that the measure undermines the survival of a sector of excellence, penalising the products and not the behaviours, and will slow down all the efforts that were done in terms of circularity.
The proposed initiative would give financial incentives to shopkeepers to reduce the price of food items and detergents sold without packaging, and of drinks, shampoos, and other liquids sold from dispensers or in reusable containers.