Finance Act 2021

49 Meaning of “plastic” and “recycled plastic”

(1) “Plastic” means a material consisting of a polymer, other than a cellulose-based polymer that has not been chemically modified, to which additives or other substances may have been added.

(2) “Recycled plastic” is plastic that has been reprocessed from recovered material by means of a chemical or manufacturing process, other than organic recycling, so that it can be used either for its original purpose or for other purposes.

(3) “Organic recycling” means the aerobic or anaerobic treatment, under controlled conditions and using micro-organisms, of biodegradable matter, which produces stabilised organic residues or methane.

(4) “Recovered material” is pre-consumer plastic or post-consumer plastic that—

(a) has been collected and recovered as a material input, in lieu of new primary material, for a recycling or a manufacturing process, and

(b) would otherwise have been disposed of as waste or used for energy recovery.

(5) “Pre-consumer plastic” is plastic that is—

(a) recovered from waste generated in a manufacturing process, and

(b) processed by a reprocessing facility,

but does not include plastic that is reused in the same process in which it was generated as scrap and from which it was recovered.

(6) “Post-consumer plastic” is plastic—

(a) that is generated by households or by commercial, industrial or institutional facilities in their role as end-users of the product, and

(b) that can no longer be used for its intended purpose.

This includes returns of plastic from the distribution chain.

(7) Plastic is not to be taken as recycled plastic unless it is shown that it is recycled plastic.

(8) The Treasury may by regulations amend the meaning of “plastic” and “recycled plastic”.

(9) Regulations under subsection (8) may amend this Part.

(10) The Commissioners may by regulations make provision about the methodology to be used, or the information or evidence required, to satisfy them that plastic is recycled plastic.