UK Plastic Packaging Tax: what importers from China owe
The tax applies to the packaging you import, not just what you manufacture. What it costs, the 10-tonne threshold, and how to avoid paying it.
It applies to importers, not just manufacturers
Plastic Packaging Tax catches plastic packaging you import into the UK, including the packaging around goods you bring in from China. That surprises a lot of buyers: you can owe the tax on poly bags, blister packs, film and trays you never thought of as a product. But there is an important carve-out — transport packaging used to deliver goods into the UK, such as pallets, pallet wrap, crates and retaining straps, is neither taxed nor counted toward your threshold.
It is charged on packaging where plastic exceeds any other single material by weight and which contains less than 30% recycled plastic. Packaging that meets or beats 30% recycled content is not taxed.
The threshold and the rate
There are two registration tests, and either can catch you: you have imported or manufactured 10 tonnes or more of plastic packaging in the last 12 months, or you expect to in the next 30 days. Registration is due within 30 days of meeting the threshold, so a seasonal importer can trip the forward-looking test months before the backward one. Packaging that meets the 30% recycled threshold is untaxed but still counts toward the 10 tonnes, so you can have to register with little or no tax due. Transport packaging on an import does not count at all.
The rate rose to £228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026, and is uprated annually. Check the current rate on gov.uk before you budget: it changes every April.
How to pay less of it, legitimately
The lever is recycled content. If your supplier can hit 30% or more recycled plastic in the packaging, that packaging falls out of the tax. For many mass-produced items — poly bags, mailers, trays — Chinese factories can source recycled-content material, but only if you ask for it in the specification and verify it.
The second lever is designing plastic out where you can: switching an outer to board, or reducing film weight, cuts both the tax and your freight volume. HMRC has announced that from April 2027 only post-consumer recycled content will count toward the 30% threshold, so pre-consumer factory offcuts would no longer qualify. That is announced policy rather than enacted law, but it is worth raising with suppliers now.
Evidence is the part people get wrong
Claiming the 30% recycled exemption means being able to evidence it. That means supplier documentation showing the recycled content of the material, tied to the specific packaging you imported, not a generic statement that the factory 'uses recycled plastic'.
Build this into your supplier paperwork from the start. Retro-fitting evidence after a shipment has landed is difficult, and without it you pay the tax on packaging that may genuinely have qualified.
How we handle it
We specify packaging material and recycled content at the quoting stage, and collect the supporting documentation with the shipping paperwork, so the packaging on your order is a known quantity rather than a surprise liability.
If you are close to the 10-tonne threshold, we can also weigh the packaging component of your orders so you know where you stand before HMRC does.
Frequently asked questions
Do I owe the tax on packaging around goods I import?
Usually, but not always. It applies to plastic packaging you import, including packaging around imported goods. Transport packaging used to deliver goods into the UK — pallets, pallet wrap, crates, straps — is exempt and does not even count toward your registration threshold.
What is the threshold for registering?
10 tonnes or more in the last 12 months, or expected in the next 30 days. Packaging with 30% or more recycled content still counts toward the test even though it is untaxed; transport packaging on an import does not count.
How much is the tax?
£228.82 per tonne from 1 April 2026 on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content. The rate is uprated each April, so confirm the current figure on gov.uk.
How do I avoid paying it?
Specify 30% or more recycled content and keep supplier evidence proving it, or design plastic out of the packaging. HMRC has announced that from April 2027 only post-consumer recycled content will count — announced policy rather than enacted law, but worth planning for.