Since 2021, the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging waste generated by each member state has been one of the factors influencing their contributions to the European Union budget. To provide flexibility and spur compliance, each member state was allowed to choose how to finance the €0.80 per kilogram levy, with options including taxing plastics manufacturers and passing the costs to businesses and consumers. Spain’s PPT-like scheme went into effect January 1, 2023, taxing manufacturers €0.45 per kilogram of non-recycled plastic packaging. Italy followed with a similar tax, but suspended implementation until January 2024.

Beyond these efforts, the European Commission’s (EC) Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy aims to make all plastic packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030,⁴ and to require that all polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drinks bottles contain at least 25% recycled plastic by 2025—30% by 2030. In 2021, France banned single-use plastics in all bags and drinks containers; other countries are expected to follow. Spain has banned the use of plastic wrap for fruits and vegetables. Some countries, like Scotland, pair regulation with incentives such as deposit returns for drinks containers.

Asia-Pacific countries generate nearly 65% of the world’s mismanaged waste, an effect of the region’s rapid urbanization and underdeveloped waste management infrastructure.⁵ Overall, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states (AMS) collect less than half of the waste they generate, and recycle less than a quarter of plastic waste.⁶ Many ASEAN nations are islands or archipelagos, and marine plastics pollution poses a significant threat to both the environment and the tourism and fishing industries.

Almost all APAC nations are developing responses in line with their particular needs, and many reflect PPT provisions—bans on single-use plastics, EPR schemes, taxes on plastic or difficult-to-recycle packaging (India and South Korea), and mandatory charges for plastic bags (India, Japan, China).

China is unique in being both a major source of plastic waste (and until recently, a major plastics importer) and at the forefront of regulation. Its 2017 Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution Caused by Solid Waste sent shock waves through the world waste management market with a total ban on 24 types of solid waste imports, including plastic waste, with steep fines for noncompliance. It also shifted plastic reduction and recycling efforts in several exporting countries into high gear. China has since banned manufacture, use, and import of single-use plastic items including bags, utensils, and straws, and use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics manufacturing.⁷

Throughout the region, plastics regulation is gaining momentum as both landfill space and patience run low. The 2021’s Regional Action Plan for Combating Marine Debris in the ASEAN Member States (RAP)⁸ prioritizes reducing plastic consumption, increasing recycling, and minimizing leakage of plastic waste to surrounding waters. World Bank grants provide significant support for plastic recycling efforts in individual countries and the region.⁹

Both Canada and the United States have frameworks for regulating and reducing plastic waste, but the Canadian approach is more advanced and comprehensive. Bounded by three oceans and home to numerous shipping waterways, Canada is a founding supporter of the Oceans Plastics Charter, which seeks to develop a legally binding treaty to end marine plastic pollution.¹⁰ A raft of 2022 regulations designed to curb plastic pollution includes an immediate ban on import and manufacture of six categories of single-use plastic—checkout bags, cutlery, food-service ware, ring carriers, stir sticks, and straws. Sale of these items will be banned as of December 1, 2023,¹¹ and export as of December 1, 2025.

These efforts are a part of Canada’s broad Zero Plastic Waste Strategy, which aims to collect at least 90% of recyclable plastic beverage bottles and ensure that plastic packaging contain at least 50% recycled content¹²—ambitious goals demanding collaboration across provinces, territories, diverse rural and urban populations, and industries. Draft regulations, expected by fall 2023, could include a registry designed to hold plastic producers accountable for their plastic waste.

The exact form that accountability will take is yet to be seen, but possibilities include fines and bars from government contracts. Less quantifiable is reputational harm incurred when customers and supply chain partners balk at working with organizations that fail to do their environmental share.

In contrast, the United States is playing catch-up. Eight US states, from California and Vermont, have banned single-use plastic or plastic bags; the majority have not.¹³ State taxes on plastic bag use are common, as are refunds on returned beverage containers; still, most states do neither. Federal action shows more promise: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed eliminating release of plastic and other waste from land-based sources into the environment by 2040.¹⁴ More specifically, the EPA identified three key objectives, all in line with the UK’s PPT and other countries’ approach:

• Reduce pollution during plastic production.
• Improve post-use materials management.
• Prevent trash and micro/nano plastics from entering waterways*** and remove escaped trash from the environment.

Since 2021, the US has embraced multiple domestic and international efforts to fight plastic pollution, with separate initiatives led by the US Departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Energy. According to the US Department of State, the current administration supports strategies adopted as part of the 2022 United Nations Environmental Assembly.¹⁵

The effect of plastic on the environment and personal health is a growing concern, requiring global action, innovation, and communication. Individual countries and regions can make progress on their own, but lasting change demands a global approach that draws on lessons learned from discrete initiatives like the UK’s PPT. For corporate tax teams, that may require both broad and specific changes across the organization.

If a “plastics audit” isn’t already in the works, manufacturers, partners, and retailers should start now, mapping their plastics footprints across the value chain—a necessity for compliance with current and future regulation. Multinationals need granular, component-level information about internal and external operating models so that they can set improvement targets. To obtain this data, organizations can embed requests for packaging information into supplier procurement processes, and update internal systems to support accurate measurement, data capture, and reporting of plastic flows. Operators can also begin assessing plastic-free and reusable packaging options. In aggregate, these efforts will minimize the plastic footprint of each organization. By exploring plastic-free and reusable packaging options, organizations can contribute to a more sustainable world, thereby mitigating the environmental damage wrought by excessive plastic use. That's a major step toward healing our planet.