Govt working on sustainable plastic plan - Gualtieri

(ANSA) - Rome, November 27 - Economy Minister Roberto Gualtieri said Wednesday that the government is working on a new plan to make plastic use sustainable in Italy. "We have started to work on a national sustainable plastic plan," Gualtieri said via Twitter. "The first meeting took place yesterday at the economy ministry with the industry ministry, the environment ministry, the whole sector, trade unions and local bodies in order to reduce consumption of single-use plastic and promote recycling".
    The 2020 budget bill features a tax on plastic, although the government is amending it after criticism from businesses.
    Sources said Wednesday that the tax will be revamped, with a 70% reduction in the forecast yield and measures aimed at encouraging recycling, reusing and innovation beefed up.
    This would see recycled plastic and plastic used for syringes and medical packaging made exempt from the tax.
    However, the centrist Italia Viva (IV) party said the plastic tax should be scrapped completely, adding that it will present an amendment to this effect.