Select committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 25
Third Report - The price of plastic: ending the toll of plastic waste
Published 7 Nov 2022
Paragraph 118
Addressed to Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Plastic waste All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
We heard that waste crime is a low risk, high reward endeavour and that current punishments are insufficient to deter illegal activity, contrary to the objectives of the EA’s Enforcement and Sanctions policy. We recommend that sanctions for companies caught breaking the rules on exporting plastic waste be considerably strengthened to make them at least comparable to the level of profit made from illegal waste exporting so as to act as a genuine deterrent. The Environmental Agency should also routinely suspend or cancel accreditation for any exporter involved in serious waste export fraud.
From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Third Report - The price of plastic: ending the toll of plastic waste (HC 22), paragraph 118, 7 November 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 January 2023 (deadline 7 January 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee on the importance of the waste hierarchy and on reuse, but disagrees with several recommendations, including dropping the qualifier "avoidable" from the 2042 plastic waste target and a ban on all plastic waste exports.
- It agrees that more use of reusable packaging is desirable and intends to "come forward with our proposals in 2024" on measures such as targets, obligations and whether there is a role for modulating fees.
- It disagrees with an exit strategy for the Packaging Waste Recovery Note system within a year of EPR starting, because it wants "to make sure we put the right measures in place at the right time".
- It disagrees with modulating the Plastic Packaging Tax, saying the 30% recycled content threshold is "ambitious", and keeps the rate and threshold "under review". Changes are a matter for Treasury Ministers.
- It disagrees with a ban on all plastic waste exports, expecting "legitimate exports to continue", and has committed to banning exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries.