Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 34
The introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging is a welcome reform that has...
Conclusion
The introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging is a welcome reform that has the potential to drive progress towards a more sustainable plastics economy. However, the lack of information about the EPR fee scheme and the two-year delay in implementation mean that achieving meaningful change in packaging design in the short term is unlikely. Despite the former Minister’s assurances that the scheme will be fully operational by 2024, we cannot see how that can be the case if the modulated fees that underpin the scheme will not fully be in 58 The price of plastic: ending the toll of plastic waste place until 2025. To make progress towards 2025 targets, the delivery of EPR needs to be expediated and information for businesses provided well in advance to give them time to adapt.
Government Response Summary
The government remains committed to introducing pEPR on a phased basis from 2024, focusing initially on payments for household packaging waste and introducing modulated fees later to incentivize recyclability, while engaging with stakeholders and providing guidance.
Paragraph Reference:
34
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The government remains committed to introducing pEPR on a phased basis from 2024. It will focus initially on payments by producers for household packaging waste managed by local authorities. Modulated fees that take account of recyclability will be introduced at a later date, to incentivise producers to use packaging and packaging materials that can be recycled. This will limit complexity in the first year whilst the new arrangements bed in. To enable modulated fees, producers will need to report against a more granular list of packaging types from the 1 January 2024. In early 2023, Defra will engage producers and other stakeholders on this more granular list of packaging and how modulated fees will be applied to them. We are working on the design and set-up of the scheme in collaboration with businesses, local authorities and other stakeholders. The Packaging Waste (Data Reporting) (England) Regulations 2022 were laid in draft in Parliament in November 2022 and guidance, based on the draft Statutory Instrument, has been published to inform businesses of the packaging data they will need to collate and report for 2023. Webinars have been attended by 3500 industry representatives and further guidance and communications will follow. Although final fee rates cannot be known until producers have submitted all their data in April 2024, we will shortly publish for feedback our best estimate of these rates. We also continue to work with local authorities on the design of the scheme, having recently held workshops in Cardiff, Belfast, Leeds, Glasgow and London, which were attended by more than 200 local authorities.