British food firms lobbied to defer £1.7bn plastic packaging tax, documents reveal

Charges of up to £605 a tonne of packaging under the new scheme were delayed by the previous government. Photograph: Jeff Morgan 09/Alamy

Lobbyists for Britain’s biggest food brands successfully pushed for a £1.7bn packaging tax to be deferred, new documents reveal.

The fees for a new scheme to improve recycling rates and tackle plastic pollution were due to be imposed this month, but were delayed for a year by the last Tory government after the industry complained about the costs in a series of private meetings.