Italy has decided to postpone a new plastics tax that was set to come into force on July 1, 2020 until January 1, 2021. Sustainable Plastics reported the update in an article published on May 14, 2020. The law is set to tax non-recyclable plastic packaging at a rate of €0.45 per kilogram. Disposable plastic packaging manufactured using bioplastics or recycled materials will be exempt from the tax. Medical device and pharmaceutical packaging will also not be taxed.

The country’s Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, announced the delay as part of an effort to minimize the economic damage being caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We worked on this decree in the awareness that this is a country in great difficulty, with a community of women, of people, in great suffering,” he said. The delay is estimated to cost the government €140 million worth of tax revenue.