Budget tax on throwaway plastic
COFFEE cups, drinks bottles and other disposable plastic items will be taxed as part of the Government’s war on harmful waste under plans to be outlined in next week’s Budget.
Ministers want to reduce the billions of throwaway plastic containers that end up in landfill or the oceans every year, which cause untold damage to the environment and pose a longterm risk to human health.
The move was welcomed by environmental campaigners, but Philip Hammond may still face a battle to keep his job next week after Cabinet allies of Theresa May urged her to sack him if he delivers a “middle of the road” Budget.
Cabinet colleagues fear the Chancellor is preparing a “safety first” set of policies that will not inspire voters, because he has concerns about economic uncertainty and does not want a repeat of his last, disastrous Budget.
It came after Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, urged Mr Hammond to deliver a bold housing strategy, and Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, reportedly used Cabinet meetings as an “audition” to run the Treasury.
On Wednesday, Mr Hammond will use the Budget to announce a consultation on taxing so-called single-use plastic, which includes anything that is usually thrown away or recycled after only one use.
In the UK alone, the amount of disposable plastic wasted every year would fill the Royal Albert Hall 1,000 times over. The figure includes paper coffee cups, which are fused with
plastic, making them almost impossible to recycle.
The introduction of a 5p charge for plastic bags in 2015 reduced the number of bags handed out by shops from seven billion per year to around one billion, and the Government believes a tax on other disposables could have a similarly dramatic effect. A ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetic products will come into force next year.
Although the proposed tax would be imposed on manufacturers, the cost would be likely to be passed on to consumers, meaning an increase in the price of a huge range of goods, including takeaway coffee cups, bottled drinks, shampoo, food in plastic trays, bubble wrap, plastic cutlery and drinking straws. Ministers believe that will in turn drive demand for new biodegradable materials to replace plastics, creating thousands of jobs in science and technology.
Environmental campaigners said they hoped the move would signal “the beginning of the end” for single-use plastic. Craig Bennett, the chief executive of Friends of the Earth, said: “This is very welcome. We have seen that even a small tax on the use of plastic, like the 5p carrier bag charge, can result in big behavioural changes, and we need to find alternatives to plastic so we can stop relying on it.
“The Government is a huge consumer, through the NHS, schools and other bodies, so it should lead the way by ending its use of single-use plastic. Alternatives such as compostable cups made from cellulose are already out there, and British innovation can help find other replacement materials for other plastics.”
Worldwide, more than 300 million tons of plastic is produced every year, of which half is for single use. Only around half of such items are recycled, with the rest going to landfill or ending up in the sea. Around 12 million tons of plastic ends up in the oceans every year.
Mr Hammond’s “call for evidence” on single-use plastics will take into account the findings of a consultation on a deposit return scheme for drink bottles carried out by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Chancellor is also considering using the Budget to increase vehicle excise duty on new diesel car sales, The Daily Telegraph understands.
A Cabinet source said: “This is a very important Budget for Philip. The Conservative Party needs it to make a positive offer to the nation after the awful election result. The worst case scenario is a boring Budget. There are clearly people out there who want his job. Sajid is on manoeuvres, Michael Gove is supported by people who want a Brexit chancellor to deliver Brexit. Philip is under pressure.”
One senior Westminster source said the frustration among Tory Rightwingers was that Mr Hammond was an “economic” chancellor rather than a political chancellor who can beat Jeremy Corbyn on policy issues.