Belgium is the European country that submits the best estimate of the quantity of plastic waste it will recycle each year, and the attendant contribution it needs to make to the EU budget, according to a new report by the European Court of Auditors.
Unlike Belgium, many Member States underestimate the amounts they are unable to recycle and, aa result, they also underestimate amount they will need to contribute to the EU budget, the report notes.
In 2023, Belgium overestimated the amount of unrecycled plastic waste it expected to generate by 343,000 kgs, paying €169 million into the EU treasury.
France is the country with the biggest underestimate - auditors
France, on the other hand, was again the country with the biggest undestimate: its projection was 358 million kgs less than the quantity it failed to recycle. As a result, France subsequently had to make the largest payment by any Member State – €1.5 billion.
Since 2021, Member States are required to pay €0.80 into the EU treasury for every kilogramme of plastic packaging waste that is not recycled. The real amount is calculated two years later. In this case, 2023.
The tax is aimed at discouraging the use of single-use plastics and boosting recycling rates in member countries.
€ A shortfall of €1.1 billion in Year 1
In its first year, the tax generated €5.9 billion for the EU budget, but the Court of Auditors found this to be €1.1 billion short.
Contributions are based on States’ forecasts, later adjusted according to the final data. Twenty-two out of 27 member States underestimated their projected waste amounts by a total of 1.4 billion kgs.
The shortfall made no difference to the EU treasury. The European Commission adjusts financial differences between forecasts and actual data within the larger contributions that Member States make to the EU budget based on their gross national income.
Court suspects some States may be guilty of environmental fraud
The Court of Auditors noted that most States were unprepared for the implementation of the tax. They use flawed methods to calculate recycled waste, often measuring the waste as it leaves the sorting facility rather than at the point of entry into the recycling process.
The Court also suspects that some plastic waste is recycled only on paper. If waste is burned or dumped but reported as recycled, that constitutes environmental fraud and unfairly reduces countries’ contributions, the auditors note.
“We urge the European Commission to address these issues promptly and apply lessons learned to future potential revenue sources,” said Lefteris Christoforou, the Court of Auditors member responsible for the report.
