EN 15343:2008 is a standard for plastics**, which deals with the traceability and conformity assessment of plastics and their recycled contentCountries around the world through plastic restrictions and plastic bans from the source to tighten the use of plastic packaging, but also from the downstream application to find alternatives, the world's developed countries and large multinational enterprises have gradually attached importance to the treatment and application of renewable plastics, many countries have committed to 2030 plastic packaging ** and reuse rate is not less than 35, which provides space for the development of the plastic packaging industry.
In order to reduce the tax on plastic packaging, foreign producers must provide their UK and Spanish customers with evidence that they can prove the recycled content. The UK guidelines require foreign producers to provide evidence of recycled content, or a first-chain audit, where evidence is provided by the importer or a competent third party. In Spain, from 2024 onwards, certification of recycled content is mandatory, following a transitional period in which producers declare that it is acceptable, according to the European standard UNEEN 15343:2008: Traceability of plastics and compliance assessment of recycled content, provided by a certification body. Spanish Plastics Tax Law (Article 773) Explain that the recycled plastic certification can be issued by an entity recognized by the national certification body of Spain or any other EU member state. This can promote economic scale for businesses in developing countries and reduce transaction costs with the EU.
Third-party certification of the recycled content of plastic packaging will be mandatory, based on EN15343 and assessed by the European accreditation system A-1 22A-AB:2023. After passing the dual system assessment, certification bodies will be allowed to apply for a certificate of conformity in accordance with ISO17065.
However, these regulations are different for how to deal with multi-material packaging. In the UK, when a plastic is calculated by weight to be the main ingredient of a package, the calculation of the packaging plastic duty is based on the weight of the entire package. For example, if a package contains 3 grams of paper, 3 grams of aluminum, and 4 grams of plastic, the entire package is considered plastic and is therefore taxed. In Italy and Spain, if a package contains multiple materials, only plastic is taxed. Therefore, if this same package enters the Spanish and Italian markets, only 4 grams of packaging will be taxed.
Unlike the UK's tools, the Spanish and Italian plastic taxes are designed to provide a strong incentive to continue to increase the amount of recycled plastic by more than 30%. Its tax is based on the weight of the non-renewable content. Therefore, in both countries, if a package has 35% recycled content, the rest of the weight of the package will still be taxed.