Industry says EU plastic tax would be 'huge mistake'

The EU executive's proposal to cut pollution by linking member states' budget contributions to the amount of plastic waste they generate has caused plastics processors to ring the alarm bell as governments negotiate the bloc's next seven-year budget.

The Commission included a national contribution based in part on the amount of plastic packaging waste a country produces as part of its proposal for the EU's 2021-2027 budget, published in May last year and was promptly moved to reassure manufacturers that it was not a tax.