Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 8
8
Rejected
Paragraph: 40
We recommend that the Government develops a clear exit strategy for any dual running of...
Recommendation
We recommend that the Government develops a clear exit strategy for any dual running of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) alongside a legacy Packaging Waste Recovery Note system. This exit strategy should be published no more than a year after EPR is introduced. This strategy should explain how we will arrive at a comprehensive EPR system that covers the total costs of managing plastic waste— including commercial waste. This would be an appropriate job for the previously proposed EPR Taskforce.
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with publishing an exit strategy for dual running of EPR and the PRN system one year after EPR implementation, stating they want to ensure the right measures are in place at the right time and avoid complicating pEPR's delivery.
Paragraph Reference:
40
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
The government welcomes the Committee’s support for the retention of the PRN system as an interim solution for ensuring that producers have a means to evidence that their recycling obligations have been met and ensuring that they contribute to the cost of reprocessing packaging waste from both households and businesses. However, the government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation to publish an exit strategy no more than a year after EPR is introduced. This is because we want to make sure we put the right measures in place at the right time. Bringing forward charges for packaging produced by businesses at this stage would complicate pEPR as a whole and risk its delivery. We want to focus on the steps to address household packaging waste first, ensuring producers are covering these costs and local authorities are receiving payments for their services. We are confident that this approach will provide powerful incentives to producers to reduce their packaging use and increase the use of easy to recycle packaging.