Plastic Packaging Tax receipts collected by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the financial year 2024 to 2025 decreased by 3% compared to the previous year.
The Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) was announced at the 2018 Budget and introduced on 1 April 2022 to incentivise the use of recycled plastic in packaging and stimulate an uptake in recycling and collection of plastic waste.
The tax applies to manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging components which contain less than 30% recycled plastic.
From 2024 to 2025, PPT receipts totalled £259 million – a £9 million decrease from the previous year.
As of 6 August 2025, there were 4,927 businesses registered to the PPT. Of the total tonnage of plastic packaging manufactured in and imported into the UK in the financial year 2024 to 2025, 38% was declared as taxable under the PPT.
Of the remaining 62% of plastic packaging tonnage manufactured in and imported into the UK, 51% met the threshold of 30% or more recycled plastic.
11% was either exported, intended for export or converted, and less than 1% was exempt because it was used for the immediate packaging of human medicines.
Figure 1 represents the quarterly revenue collected by the PPT in the financial years 2022 to 2023, 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025. The chart shows that revenue has been lower in the final two quarters of each financial year – the data has not been seasonally adjusted.
The revenue in the second half of each financial year has been 7% lower than in the first half of each financial year, on average.
Commenting on the PPT receipts, David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs at Reconomy Connect, says there is still a large amount of virgin plastic material in circulation.
“Persistently low virgin plastic prices have meant it is often far cheaper to use new material than recycled content,” Gudgeon said.
“We would urge the government to provide greater support to help producers navigate recycled content requirements, while encouraging urgent investment in recycling infrastructure to protect the UK’s ability to cut back on plastic waste, lower carbon emissions and expand the circular economy.”