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How will the UK plastic packaging tax impact beauty?

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From April 1, any company manufacturing or importing packaging containing less than 30% recycled materials will be taxed £200 per tonne. For an industry that’s renowned for its insurmountable reliance on plastic, this may well pose some issues. 

Earlier this month, ‘the most important international deal since the Paris climate accord’ was approved by the United Nations Environmental Assembly in an effort to tackle the mountains upon mountains of single-use plastic waste that continue to pile up across the globe.

Choosing to back this ambitious plan of action, the UK is set to introduce measures of its own at the end of next week.

From April 1, any companies manufacturing or importing packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled materials will be charged at £200 per tonne.

Rather convenient indeed, given that microplastic pollution has just been detected in human blood for the first time, with scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the people they tested and warning of their ability to travel around the body and lodge in our organs.

Microplastics in a petri dish

However, though many have welcomed the move, saying it will incentivise businesses to adopt more eco-conscious practices, one sector in particular – renowned for its insurmountable reliance on an active contributor to the destruction of our planet – has raised concerns about the impending change.

Despite agreeing with its good intentions, the beauty industry fears the tax will have a significant impact on sales, especially amid the current cost of living crisis, which has already seen consumers forced to cut back on unnecessary and indulgent purchases.

‘It’s likely to be a real challenge for the producers and manufacturers of beauty products,’ says Millie Kendall, co-founder of The British Beauty Council.

‘On the one hand, we absolutely must keep driving change in how businesses operate in order to address the climate crisis, but on the other, with relatively little information from the government on this, it’s likely to creep up on many businesses that haven’t had the chance to prepare for the changes ahead.’

Referring here to the struggles that smaller enterprises (sustainable or not) will inevitably face, Kendall adds that the requirement to monitor manufacturing and import levels will place an additional financial and administrative burden on businesses even if they are already going above and beyond.

For this reason, her non-profit is working with the government to clarify exactly what is expected from this challenging transition, so companies can start sourcing alternative materials if they haven’t yet and adapt more quickly to the new rules.

In addition to this, others believe there are better ways of encouraging companies to switch up their methods while protecting and engaging consumers.

This includes an outright ban of the most-polluting single-use plastics, legally binding targets to reduce plastic consumption countrywide, and investment in the infrastructure we need to build a truly circular economy, where products aren’t designed to be part of the throwaway culture we’ve become so used to.

‘I think this particular policy objective is fundamentally flawed in that its goal is to encourage the use of recycled plastics,’ says Yolanda Cooper, founder of We Are Paradoxx.

‘As we know plastic is not infinitely recyclable, so we do not believe this actually solves the problem – it simply pushes it down the road.’

All of this aside, there’s no denying the potential benefits of this decision.

Pumps, sprays, tamper seals, you name it, our favourite skincare and cosmetics products wouldn’t be available to us without their functional containers, all of which far too often are made from lots of different pieces of plastic, glass, or aluminium.

And it’s really no secret that the detritus this leaves in its wake is immense (120 billion units of packaging a year to be exact, a figure that’s predicted to grow to £131 billion by 2025), largely responsible for the fact that there’s now seven times more plastic than young fish in the ocean.

‘Encouraging businesses to source more sustainably and use a higher percentage of recycled materials in their packaging is a positive step for the planet,’ says Lisa Oxenham, Style Director at Marie Claire.

‘Next, cosmetic businesses should push themselves to aim for higher than the 30% recycled content benchmark and think about using less black plastic packaging. This is notoriously hard to recycle as it cannot be sorted by the technology at recycling plants. It’s crucial that both industry leaders and smaller brands start making changes now.’

Ultimately, the more regeneration, reuse, and recycling that takes place in the industry, the more the brands that have dropped the ball will be inclined to evaluate their supply chain. And, of course, the healthier our Earth will be.

Feature Media Manager & Senior Writer London, UK

Sofia (She/Her) – I’m the Deputy Editor & Media Partnership Manager at Thred, specialising in exclusive articles and live interviews, fashion and beauty with a focus on sustainability, women’s rights, psychedelics, and Latin America. I studied Spanish at the University of Exeter and International Journalism at City, London. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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