BREXIT SAVES US BILLIONS IN EU FEES AND MEMBERSHIP COSTS
Summary:
In January 2021, the EU introduced a new source of funds, in the form of an annual fee to be paid by member states. This fee was to be paid at a rate of €0.80, for every kilogram of plastic packaging produced by the member state but not recycled.
In 2021, the UK is estimated to have produced 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging, with 1.4 million tonnes believed to have not been recycled. This would have resulted in the UK having to pay an additional €1.12 Billion into the EU coffers in 2021.
Explanation:
In January 2021, the EU introduced a new source of funds for financing the ever-growing EU budget, in the form of an annual fee to be paid by all member states. This fee was to be paid for the amount of plastic packaging estimated to have been created / manufactured within the member state but not recycled, at a rate of €0.80 for every kilogram of waste.
In 2021, the UK is estimated to have produced around 2.5 Million tonnes of plastic packaging – with 1.4 Million tonnes believed to have not been recycled. So were the UK to still be a member of the EU, this would have meant that for 2021 the UK would have had to contribute an additional €1.12 Billion to the EU budget, on top of its core contributions.
Though the data for subsequent year has not yet become available, it is fair to assume a similar level of contribution per year – which would mean the UK has saved itself around €4 Billion since it left the EU, with the amount increasing for each year we are out.
Reference: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/financing-the-eu-budget/
Reference: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-waste-data/uk-statistics-on-waste