According to the law, the fee applies from today to single-use plastic or multi-material packaging with plastic, and applies also from January 1, 2023 to aluminium or multi-material packaging with aluminium.

At issue are, in particular, packaging for takeaway and home deliveries.

The measure is intended to encourage the introduction of reusable packaging systems in restaurants and to promote the reduction of single-use packaging.

“The supply of ready-to-eat meals or home delivery shows a clear growth trend, with the direct result being an increase in the consumption of single-use packaging, which makes it even more urgent to introduce measures that allow to dissociate this growth from the consumption of resources and the production of waste”, says the ordinance that regulates the change that comes into force today.

Bring your own box

The document recalls that establishments that provide ready-to-eat meals on a ready-to-eat and take-out basis are already obliged to accept that their customers can use their own containers, so there is an alternative to paying the contribution.

The revenue from the fee will be directed in half to the State and 40% to the Environmental Fund, it can also be read in the ordinance.

As of November last year, the Government has already banned the placing on the market of other single-use plastic products, such as straws or cotton buds, cutlery and plates, sticks for balloons and cups, partially transposing a European directive.

In the rule that comes into force today, there are some exceptions, one of them for packages that contain ready-to-eat meals that are not packaged in the establishment of sale to the final consumer, “since the establishment does not control the packaging of the product in these cases, it does not thus allow the consumer to have an alternative”.