The tax, thought to be the first in Europe, will not only mean higher costs for processors, but could be the start of an EU-wide move to force companies to add CO2 emissions to the list of criteria they use when choosing their packaging. The European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment (Europen) says the Netherlands' tax will be the first of its kind in Europe and could add to the problems of meeting various waste and recycling targets. The organisation is generally against taxes based on environmental criteria, claiming that previous experience "shows that it is impossible to compare fairly all of the environmental factors of each packaging material, let alone the packaging produced from those materials". The Netherlands tax, due to be implemented in January, is being brought in under an agreement between the country's environment ministry, local authorities and industry. The tax will be based on the estimated CO2 emissions produced in making particular packaging, Europen reported in its latest bulletin, issued today. The tax will be used to establish a fund to help reduce waste in the country, a programme that includes the set up of a separate collection of household packaging, Europen stated. In addition government will adopt a new recycling target of 42 per cent for plastic packaging by 2012. The current rate is 22.5 per cent, as required under EU law. The proposals form part of the government's plan to double recycling rates by 2012. The new tax will be based on a calculation of CO2 emissions from the production of each kilogramme of packaging material put into the Netherlands' market and, presumably, the embedded carbon content of the packaging, Europen stated. "Details of how the tax will be apportioned between each material have yet to be announced but differences of opinion will undoubtedly arise over the validity of the calculations which are to be made by an independent organisation," Europen stated. Carbon-based measures to reduce packaging waste have come to the fore in debates about lessening the impact of climate change, and reducing packaging waste. In the UK, the government is studying a method of labelling packaging with a standard based on CO2 emissions. Consumers would then be able to tell what packaging is more environmentally-friendly, presumably one of the factors they would take into consideration when buying a product. Packagers like Tetra Pak are also starting to study their CO2 emissions, and reduce it along the supply chain. Tetra Pak in particular says it is gearing up for the time when carbon-labelling and reducing targets are set for its packaging. The restrictions being placed on packaging fall under the 1994 EU directive, which set targets for waste production, reuse, and recycling for each member country. Since then various countries have used different methods to influence the market, including legal restrictions, deposit taxes, and in the case of the UK, a tradable permit system. Julian Carroll, Europen's managing director, said it could be significant for companies that both the Netherlands and the UK and considering changes to their systems. "Perhaps it is only a coincidence that the management of packaging waste in both these countries is now the subject of change or is seriously under question," he wrote in Europen's bulletin. "Although no changes to the tradable permit scheme in the UK are yet proposed, packaging has nevertheless become the target of a sustained attack from several sectors of society, including local authorities, environmental interest groups and the popular press." Fiona Durie, Europen's project and services officer, told FoodProductionDaily.com that the Netherlands originally implemented the directive by adopting regulations that stayed close to its provisions. The Netherlands allowed companies the option of using voluntary agreements or "covenants" to achieve targets more in line with government policy. Most companies complied through the covenant. However, the third packaging covenant was not renewed when it expired at the end of 2005. "Whereas municipalities were responsible until then for the collection of household waste, legal provisions have now been activated that require industry to contribute to local authorities' collection costs for packaging waste, as in most other member states," she said. He noted that proposed changes in the UK could be attributed to the fact that, unlike the rest of Europe, the present system does not include a material-specific nationwide collection system for household packaging waste. He noted though that the UK tradable permit system functions "fairly well" when dealing with secondary and tertiary packaging, allowing the country to meet its EU target obligations. "But ignoring the example of other European countries and failing to establish a system for the collection and management of household packaging waste may prove to be the system's Achilles heel," he stated. According to the UK government's own data growth in UK packaging consumption has been decoupled from growth in gross domestic product, indicating that the targets are not holding the economy back.
