UK Plastic Packaging Tax in 2027-28: £236.56 a tonne, and what it adds to your packaging bill

From 1 April 2027, the UK Plastic Packaging Tax goes up from £228.82 to £236.56 a tonne. That is a rise of £7.74, about 3.4%. On a typical online order it adds a fraction of a penny.

I would not lose sleep over the rate.

The bigger change is in the small print. From the same date, plastic recycled from pre-consumer waste stops counting towards the 30% recycled content that keeps a component out of the tax. A film that counts as 30% recycled today can count as almost zero recycled from 1 April 2027, with no change in how it is made.

Checked against official sources on 28 October 2026.

We make plastic and paper packaging in Jaipur, and we export to 20+ countries, the UK among them. The tax is paid by the UK manufacturer or importer, never by us. But the evidence that decides whether a component is taxed starts in our factory, or in whichever factory you buy from.

So for a purchase head, this is as much a buying question as a tax question. I have written it that way.

What is the Plastic Packaging Tax rate for 2027-28?

Three things change on 1 April 2027. One thing does not.

1. The rate rises to £236.56 per tonne. HM Treasury published it in the Budget 2026 rates annex on 28 October 2026. It follows CPI and still has to pass into law through Finance Bill 2026-27, so treat it as announced, not yet enacted.
2. Pre-consumer plastic stops counting as recycled plastic. HMRC's guidance on which packaging is subject to the tax, updated 28 August 2026, says reprocessed pre-consumer plastic can be counted only until 1 April 2027.
3. A certified mass balance approach becomes available for chemically recycled plastic. The draft regulations were published on 6 October 2026, and the consultation runs until 21 December 2026. The final wording may still change.

The 30% threshold stays where it is. The Budget 2026 overview (paragraph 2.26) adds that anyone claiming it will need certification from 1 April 2030.

Who pays the tax, and who has to register?

The tax falls on businesses that manufacture finished plastic packaging components in the UK, or import them into the UK. HMRC's registration guidance gives two tests. You must register if you made or imported 10 tonnes or more in the last 12 months, or if you expect to in the next 30 days.

If I were close to 10 tonnes, I would run both tests every month, not once a year.

Imports are where Indian suppliers come in. HMRC's exemption list exempts transport packaging used to bring goods into the UK. It does not exempt the normal packaging around a sales unit, or any unfilled plastic packaging. So empty mailers, films and bags imported as stock can be taxable, and so can retail packs that arrive already filled.

An Indian exporter never pays this tax. But a UK buyer can claim the 30% exemption only with evidence, and HMRC's starting point is strict. All plastic is treated as virgin unless there is evidence that recycled material was used.

That evidence (what went into the film, from which recycler, in what share) comes from us, the suppliers, and from the recyclers we buy from. Nobody further down the chain can see it.

How is the 30% worked out?

Per component, by weight. Divide the weight of recycled plastic by the weight of all the plastic in that component, and multiply by 100.

What catches people is the result below the line. A component with 25% recycled plastic is not taxed on its virgin 75%. It is taxed on its full weight.

It works like the old senior citizen concession on Indian Railways. A man of 59 years and 11 months paid the full fare. There was no part concession for being nearly 60.

Why does the pre-consumer rule matter more than the new rate?

Because it can move a component from no tax to full tax overnight.

HMRC's guidance separates two kinds of recycled plastic. Post-consumer plastic comes from end users, households and businesses, after the item has done its job. Pre-consumer plastic is manufacturing waste that a reprocessing facility turns back into raw material. Scrap that a factory simply grinds and feeds back into the same process has never counted at all.

Until 1 April 2027, a film or bag could reach 30% partly on reprocessed pre-consumer material. From that date it cannot. If a supplier's 30% claim leans on trim and offcuts from other converters, that component falls below the line, and its whole weight becomes taxable.

So the first question for every supplier changes. It used to be "Is it 30% recycled?" From April it has to be "How much of it is post-consumer, and from which recycler?"

I would ask it in writing.

I will be honest about our own position here. Our GRS certificate covers only packing sacks and bags made with 50 to 100% post-consumer recycled polyethylene. Our 30% recycled bags and our stretch film are outside it. For those, a UK buyer relies on our declaration and the recycler's paperwork. I would rather say that before an order than after it.

Mass balance is the other new door. From 1 April 2027, plastic from chemical recycling can be counted through a certified mass balance method, under conditions on attribution, certification, audit and records. If a supplier offers chemically recycled content, ask for the mass balance certificate and check it against the final regulations once they are out.

What does £236.56 a tonne add per kg, per pack and per 1,000 orders?

Divide by 1,000 first. £236.56 per tonne is £0.23656 per kg, so about 23.7p for every kg of a taxable component.

The easiest unit for a purchase head is the gram. Per 1,000 orders, the tax in pounds is simply the grams of taxable plastic in one order multiplied by 0.23656.

Here is a worked example. We chose every weight and volume in it only to show the method, so treat each one as an ASSUMPTION.

Weigh your own packs.

A UK online seller imports its packaging and is above the 10-tonne threshold. Each order goes out in a plastic mailer of 30 g with 6 g of air cushions inside. Neither has 30% recycled content. It ships 50,000 orders a year.

The rate rise adds 28p per 1,000 orders. I would not call a meeting for that.

Now change one fact. Say the mailer was sold as 30% recycled, and the recycled part is pre-consumer. Up to 31 March 2027, the mailer is out of the tax, and only the 6 g of cushions is taxed. That is £1.37 per 1,000 orders, or £68.65 on 50,000 orders.

From 1 April 2027, the mailer is back in. All 36 g is taxed, and the bill becomes £425.81 a year. That is more than six times the old figure, from one line in HMRC's guidance, with the same mailer on the same shelf.

Is it cheaper to pay the tax or to buy 30% post-consumer recycled?

On tax alone the rule is simple. If the 30% post-consumer version costs you more than about 23.7p per kg extra, paying the tax is cheaper. If it costs less, the recycled version wins.

Three things change that sum.

1. UK packaging EPR is a separate bill. Its fees follow the recyclability rating of the pack, not its recycled content, so a recycled mailer does not lower that bill by itself. Our packaging budget guide for FY 2027-28 covers the EPR multiplier.
2. Weight is a lever too. A mailer that is 10% lighter pays 10% less tax, whatever its recycled share. Our guide to downgauging shows how to trial a thinner film without losing strength.
3. Below 10 tonnes a year you pay no tax at all, so a recycled premium buys you nothing on this line.

From our side of the table, the honest check is strength. Recycled film can seal and stretch differently from virgin film. We would always ask a buyer to trial it on their own packing line before switching a whole range.

What should you do before 1 April 2027?

1. List every plastic component you make or import, with its weight in grams and its tonnes per year. Your purchase records will give you most of it.
2. Ask each supplier, in writing, for the recycled share of each component, split into post-consumer and pre-consumer, with the recycler's name.
3. Mark every component whose post-consumer share alone is below 30%. Those are the ones that can fall back into the tax in April.
4. For each marked component, ask for two prices: a 30% post-consumer version and the current version. Compare the gap with 23.7p per kg.
5. Re-run the 10-tonne test, looking back 12 months and forward 30 days.
6. Watch two documents: Finance Bill 2026-27, which puts the new rate into law, and the final mass balance regulations after the consultation closes on 21 December 2026.
7. Open a recycled-content file for each supplier now. From 1 April 2030 the 30% claim will need certification.

If I had time for only one step this month, I would do step 2. Everything else follows from the answers.

Your calculation

1. Taxable grams per order = the weight of every plastic component in the order with less than 30% recycled plastic. From 1 April 2027, count post-consumer recycled plastic only.
2. Tax per 1,000 orders (in £) = taxable grams per order × 0.23656.
3. Tax per year = tax per 1,000 orders × orders per year ÷ 1,000.
4. If you buy by the tonne: tax = tonnes of taxable components × £236.56.
5. Break-even = 23.7p per kg of component. A 30% post-consumer version that costs less extra than this pays for itself on tax alone.

Put one packed order's plastic on a kitchen scale today. Multiply the grams by 0.237 and you have your tax per 1,000 orders in pounds. It will take you two minutes.

This guide explains the rules as published on 28 October 2026. It is not legal or tax advice, so check your own position with a UK tax adviser before you act on it.