On May 7th, the UK government announced that it will adopt the Mass Balance Approach (MBA) as the standard for calculating recycled plastic content starting from April 2027. This regulatory chain model allows enterprises to accurately calculate the recycled content when mixing recycled and virgin materials, which is particularly suitable for chemical recycling scenarios where recycled products are often mixed with virgin materials and difficult to track physically.
The UK has long been promoting the use of recycled plastics. Since April 1, 2022, it has imposed a Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, and adjusted the tax rate to £223.69 per ton on April 1, 2025. The new MBA method will work in conjunction with the existing tax policy to further promote the development of the recycled plastic industry and reduce reliance on virgin plastics.
