Plastic Tax Spain. Scope of application and exemption for recycled materials

As of January 1, 2023, Spain introduced a tax on plastic packaging with the Spanish Law 7/2022.

The Scope of the Spanish Plastic Tax.

In order to increase the circular economy and to implement the European rules for reducing the single-use plastic, Spain has therefore applied a tax to all non-reusable plastic-containing packaging, semi-finished products and final products.

Plastic tax applies to all packaging: primary, secondary and tertiary.

It includes packaging manufactured in Spain and the imported items.

The tax cannot be applied to packaging made of certified recycled content.

The tax fee of 0.45 euros per kg is related to the non-recycled plastic content, therefore, the quantity of recycled plastic in the packaging is not taxable.

However, the Spanish Law requires that the recycled content must be certified by an accredited third party body.

REMADE certification for the Spanish plastic tax.

Spanish law requires that the recycled content mut be certified in accordance with UNI 15343:2008 (“Recycled Plastics. Plastics recycling traceability and assessment of conformity and recycled content”) or by equivalent standard, by third-party body accredited by the Spanish Accreditation Body (ENAC) or another National Accreditation Body (in Italy, it is ACCREDIA).

REMADE is a certification scheme validated by ACCREDIA. All the third-party bodies releasing the Remade Certification are operating under ACCREDIA accreditation.  

Remade certification is issued in accordance with the UNI 15343:2008 standard.

The REMADE certification can be legally used to prove the amount of recycled content in packaging for the exemption of the Spanish plastic tax.