Sustainable Packaging & EPR Compliance worked example

Packaging Tax Exposure at 69% share of tonnage below the recyclate threshold: a worked example

This scenario runs the packaging tax exposure calculation on the strong side: 69% share of tonnage below the recyclate threshold, with every other input held at its documented default. A finance or compliance lead forecasting plastic packaging tax liability and the savings from raising recycled content.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Taxable packaging placed on market: 200 tonnes (unchanged)
  • Statutory tax rate per tonne: 260 $/tonne (unchanged)
  • Share of tonnage below the recyclate threshold: 69 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 60)
  • Annual filing and compliance overhead: 3,000 $ (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Total tax exposure = taxable weight x tax rate x taxable% + filing overhead) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 38,880 $ for total packaging tax exposure cost, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 194 $ / piece for packaging tax exposure cost per unit.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 35,880 $ for variable packaging tax exposure cost.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 3,000 $ for fixed packaging tax exposure adder.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where share of tonnage below the recyclate threshold sits at 60% and the headline result is 34,200 $, this scenario comes in 13.68% above the baseline at 38,880 $.
  • Use it to forecast plastic packaging tax liability and model how raising recycled content shrinks the taxable base. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Total packaging tax exposure cost: 38,880 $ (headline result)
  • Packaging tax exposure cost per unit: 194 $ / piece
  • Variable packaging tax exposure cost: 35,880 $
  • Fixed packaging tax exposure adder: 3,000 $

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Packaging Tax Exposure calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.