UK plastic tax: No mercy for bioplastics

Great Britain is stepping up the fight against the plastic flood: on April 1, the plastic tax came into effect in the United Kingdom. flustix founder Malte Biss explains what this has to do with bioplastics and who will end up paying the bill – here in the blog, and in an interview with the professional magazine “neue verpackung”.

A Facebook ad of a Hamburg-based fast-food chain that is especially popular among young people is fully in line with the sustainability trend. The clip shows a beverage cup that is obviously made of transparent plastic emblazoned with the lettering, “Not a plastic cup.” Above it stands, “The truth is: our cups are also made from plants.” And some more good news on top: “100% biodegradable.”

Malte Biss, the founder of flustix, has a firm opinion on such disposable products, which appear to be sustainable. “Bioplastics go to 90 percent into the incinerator, because such cups are not allowed in organic waste. There are no collecting systems for so-called bioplastics,” says Biss. As a result, the items, which require a lot of energy to produce, are slowing down efforts to strengthen the circular economy. „Besides,” Malte says, “we need our fields all the more now and in the future to produce food – not disposable tableware.“

For Malte, it is therefore logical that the plastic tax introduced in the UK on April 1 shows no mercy to bioplastics. He says, “Even those polymers considered biodegradable or that appear to be compostable, count as plastics.“

Is the British plastic tax a model for the EU? Which other countries are pioneers too, and for whom the plastic tax will be expensive – read more in the interview with Malte Biss.