As of January 1st EU member states are obliged to pay a tax on non-recycled plastic packaging waste. Siegel Online examines the mechanism of the tax and its effects. Among others, the article refers to Klaus Jacob's appraisal on benefits and limitations of the tax. He highlights the reasoning for prosecution that affects the member states but in no way - or merely indirectly - the producers and consumers of plastic waste. Nevertheless, a potential "ecological steering function" is being certified, thus the member states have an incentive to diminish the emergence of non-recycled plastic waste. Furthermore, the tax constitutes an initial entry point for ecologizing the EU's budgeting - the EU carbon border tax is expected for 2023 and will present a new revenue source for the EU's budgeting.

You can find the article here.