Aluminium and plastics will be the losers under the carbon-based packaging tax introduced in the Netherlands this year. The tax, based on a calculation of carbon dioxide emissions per kilo of packaging material, has been set at 57 eurocents for aluminium primary packaging and 35 cents for plastics. Glass and wood producers will pay a fraction of this, 4.6 cents and 2.3 cents, respectively, for each kilo of packaging material. CE Delft, an independent research and consultancy organisation, has overseen the carbon calculation, which is based on a standard carbon rate for each packaging material, regardless of where the material is sourced. The Dutch Environment Ministry, local authorities and industry have said they will use the packaging tax to invest in a waste fund. It will also help pay for separate collection of household packaging waste in the country. The Netherlands is the first country in Europe to introduce a carbon-based tax on packaging. Jane Bickerstaffe, director of the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (Incpen), has previously said she did not believe the tax would be adopted in the UK, and that the carbon calculation was an "inexact science".
