The plastics own resource, in place since 1 January 2021, consists of a national contribution based on the amount of non-recycled plastic packaging waste. This own resource is closely linked to the EU policy priorities, encouraging Member States to reduce packaging waste and stimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy by implementing the European Plastics Strategy. At the same time, it leaves Member States the possibility to define the most suitable policies to reduce plastic packaging waste pollution in line with the principle of subsidiarity.A uniform call rate of €0.80 per kilogram will be applied to the weight of plastic packaging waste that is not recycled, with a mechanism to avoid excessive contributions from less wealthy Member States.How does it work in practice?The contributions is calculated based on data, which Member States collect and provide under reporting obligations of the Waste legislation. More concretely, following the Packaging and packaging waste Directive (Directive 94/62/ECC) and its Implementing Decision (Decision (EU) 2019/665), Member States already provide data on plastic packaging waste generation and recycling. The Packaging and Packaging waste Directive is expected to be replaced by the a Packaging and Packaging waste Regulation in February 2025. The data is publicly available on the Eurostat website.Given that the exact data is reported to Eurostat in July of the year N+2, the European Commission first calculates the contributions based on forecasts, to be agreed between the EU Member States and the Commission. This is a standard practice also applied for other sources of revenue to the EU budget.Once final data is available, the European Commission adapts the calculations of Member States’ contributions accordingly.Since 2021 (after the entry into force of the Own Resources Decision), Member States pay their contributions, on a monthly basis, based on forecasts. These contributions are adjusted two years later when the final data is available.
