As of September 1, 2023, a fee will be charged on single-use packaging made of plastic or aluminium, or multi-material packaging with plastic or aluminium purchased in ready-to-eat meals. As with the fee applied on takeaway plastic packaging, the contribution will be of 0.30 cents, as provided for in the State Budget for 2021, and will be obligatorily itemised on the invoice.
According to the order published in Diário da República, the fee will apply “to primary packaging, including service packaging, for single use for food, made wholly or partially from plastic, of aluminium or multi-material with plastic or with aluminium” that are purchased in take away or home delivery meals.
The fee was expected to come into force as of January 1, 2023, but the Government decided to postpone its adoption to September 1, 2023.
“The contribution on single-use packaging applies from July 1, 2022, for plastic or multi-material packaging with plastic, and from September 1, 2023, for aluminium or multi-material packaging with aluminium ".
“In this sense (...) it is necessary to extend the period for producing effects established in Ordinance No. 331-E/2021, of December 31, regarding aluminium or multi-material packaging with aluminium, thus benefiting from learning of the contribution that started in the meantime in plastic packaging”, concludes the note.
Single-use packaging for beverages
In the same order, the Government reports that the same fee will no longer be charged on packaging for beverages, as it understands that “although they may constitute single-use packaging, it is considered that their application is inappropriate for the isolated purchase of a beverage”.
According to the document signed by the Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, Nuno Félix, and the Secretary of State for the Environment and Energy, João Galamba, it is also explained that charging this fee on beverage packaging "also obviates the potential distortion of competition between beverages supplied in establishments and those supplied through vending systems”.
