Mauritius has introduced new measures on plastic bottles: what changes?
Since 1 October 2026, the Rs 2 excise that applied only to plastic drink bottles covers plastic bottles of almost any product: shampoo, oil, sauces, detergents. Who pays, what it costs a household, and whether it will cut plastic waste.
In short
From 1 October 2026, an excise duty of Rs 2 per bottle applies to plastic bottles containing goods for home consumption, not just drinks (Finance Act 2026; MRA communiqué of 2 September 2026).
A “plastic bottle” is any plastic container, of any shape, that is taller than the width of its base. The MRA has published a list of goods that are exempt.
Importers and local manufacturers must register with MRA Customs and hold a Part I excise licence; the duty is then built into shelf prices.
For a family buying about 12 non-drink plastic bottles a month, that is roughly Rs 28 a month (Rs 330 a year) including VAT: a MoBriefs estimate.
Only about 35% of beverage PET bottles were collected for recycling in 2024. The tax raises the price signal; the Rs 5 deposit-refund scheme announced in 2025 is what would make collection pay, and it is not yet running.
What exactly changed
Until September 2026, the Rs 2 excise applied only to PET bottles containing beverages. The 2026-27 Budget (Annex, measure 4) extended it to all plastic bottles used to contain any product, from 1 October 2026. The Finance Act 2026 changed the definitions of “plastic” and “plastic bottle” in the Excise Act, and the MRA classifies the products under HS code 3923.30.10 (“plastic bottles containing goods”).
In practice this covers most liquids sold in bottles: shampoo and shower gel, cooking oil, sauces and condiments, cleaning products, lotions, motor oil and so on. A list of exempted goods has been published by the MRA: check it before assuming a product is taxed. Containers that are wider than they are tall (tubs, trays) are not bottles under the definition; plastic bowls, cups, plates and trays have carried their own Rs 2 excise since May 2019.
What it costs households
Rs 2 is small per bottle, but bottles add up. The duty is charged on each unit, so it weighs most on small sizes: Rs 2 on a 100 ml travel shampoo is a much bigger share of the price than on a 2-litre bottle of oil. That creates an incentive to buy larger sizes or refills.
Our estimate for a typical family is 8 drink bottles (already taxed) plus about 12 other bottles a month: shampoo, shower gel, dish liquid, oil, sauces, cleaning products. The new part of the bill is 12 × Rs 2 = Rs 24, or about Rs 28 with VAT: roughly Rs 330 a year.
Will it reduce plastic waste?
A tax raises the cost of plastic packaging, but unlike a deposit it does not reward anyone for bringing the bottle back. Mauritius already has two decades of PET levies (Rs 1 in 2006, Rs 2 from 2010), yet in 2024 only about 35% of the 158 million beverage bottles put on the market were collected for recycling: far below the 80% target in the planned producer-responsibility rules.
The 2025-26 Budget announced a deposit-refund scheme of Rs 5 per bottle, backed by Extended Producer Responsibility regulations under the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act. Those rules are what would create a collection system; until they are in force, the bottle tax mainly raises revenue and nudges packaging choices.
There is also a risk of substitution: if producers switch to pouches or sachets (which are not “bottles”), the result could be packaging that is even harder to recycle. Watch how products change on the shelves.