Plastic Packaging Tax compliance starts with knowing your recycled content. Exactly.
Merchant Packaging tracks recycled content at component level across every SKU, distinguishes between "zero" and "not recorded", and gives you the data you need for accurate PPT returns and HMRC audits.
What PPT requires
The UK Plastic Packaging Tax applies to plastic packaging components that contain less than 30% recycled content by weight. The tax rate for 2025/26 is GBP 217.85 per tonne. Businesses that manufacture or import 10 or more tonnes of plastic packaging per year must register and report.
The critical data point is recycled content percentage at component level. This is not a packaging-level figure - it is per component. A bottle with a PP cap and a PET body has two separate recycled content assessments. If either falls below 30%, that component attracts the tax.
Where the data challenge is
Most businesses struggle with three things:
First, getting recycled content data from suppliers at all. Many suppliers do not provide it, or provide it at the wrong level of granularity.
Second, distinguishing between "zero recycled content" and "we don't know the recycled content". HMRC treats these differently. If you cannot evidence that a component contains 30%+ recycled content, it is taxable. Merchant Packaging stores recycled content as a nullable value - null means not recorded, zero means confirmed zero. This distinction matters for audits.
Third, keeping the data current. Suppliers change formulations. Recycled content percentages shift between batches. A component that was compliant last quarter may not be compliant this quarter if the supplier changed resin source.
How Merchant Packaging helps
- Recycled content tracked per component, not per SKU or per product - matching the granularity HMRC requires
- Nullable data model: null (not recorded) vs 0% (confirmed zero) vs any positive value - no ambiguity
- Supplier data portal collects recycled content directly from suppliers with validation on intake
- Identifies which components are below the 30% threshold and therefore taxable
- Tracks changes over time so you can see when a component crosses the threshold
- Exports audit-ready data for your PPT return
Book a demo to see how your plastic packaging data maps to PPT liability
Tell us how you record recycled content today and we will show you what HMRC would need to see.
Southampton SO14 3TG, UK