Estonia plans to scrap packaging excise under new bill

Estonia plans to abolish its packaging excise from July next year, according to a revised draft law, ERR reports. The Estonian Chamber of Agriculture and Commerce supports ending the tax but says new requirements to report packaging materials in detail could burden manufacturers.

The excise has been in force since 1997. It does not apply automatically to every package sold: companies bringing packaged goods to the market have paid it if they failed to collect and recycle enough packaging waste.

Infrastructure Minister Kuldar Leis said the tax had become less relevant as businesses met recycling targets, leaving mainly smaller companies liable to pay. The state has collected an average of about 300,000 euros a year from it in recent years, with revenue falling over time.

Scrapping the excise would not end companies’ obligations to collect and recycle packaging waste. Those duties would remain under the waste reform and the planned adoption of the European Union’s packaging regulation, which aims to reduce packaging waste and increase recycling.

The chamber welcomes a draft provision that would exempt companies placing less than 100 tonnes of packaging on the Estonian market each year from submitting packaging reports. The previous threshold for an audit requirement was 20 tonnes, said Meeli Lindsaar, the chamber’s head of food affairs.

However, Lindsaar said the proposed rules would require more detailed information about packaging materials and their composition. Businesses would have to report not only whether packaging is made of paperboard, plastic or metal, but also provide details such as the composition of plastic packaging. She said the recycling goal was understandable, but the reporting could add a substantial burden for industry and manufacturers.

Leis said the government was continuing to consult business organisations and the draft could still be refined.