Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 30
30
Acknowledged
However, the incoming Government needs to join up its existing proposals for data collection under...
Conclusion
However, the incoming Government needs to join up its existing proposals for data collection under Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and waste tracking to create a unified system. The previous Government’s argument—that such a system is less useful for ‘single-use items’ like packaging—is flawed. Packaging needs to be valued so that it reused, retained and recycled in the most efficient ways possible. The new Government should follow up on its predecessor’s proposal that “recycling enablers” could be a mandatory part of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and work with industry to develop a comprehensive marking system that will integrate with digital waste tracking in the future. As well as providing data on the life cycle of plastic packaging and how it is used and disposed of, this marking system should openly share information about the nature of plastics on the market. This will help all stakeholders in the supply chain understand and maximise the value of such material and create the most efficient recycling system for them. (Paragraph 141) The price of plastic: ending the toll of plastic waste 63
Government Response Summary
The government agrees better data is essential and key to informing policy development and welcomes support for mandatory recyclability labelling. They plan to use the waste tracking service to incorporate waste information recording requirements.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The government agrees with the Committee that better data is essential and key to informing policy development. We welcome their support for the government’s proposals to introduce mandatory recyclability labelling on packaging. The government is already planning to take action that aligns with the Committee’s recommendation. In the government’s consultation on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking in 2022, we set out that we would seek to use the waste tracking service to incorporate any future waste information recording requirements, including for pEPR. We expect that technology will continue to develop that will enable the tracking of products/materials through the supply chain; this includes advanced technologies to enable the more effective sorting of materials for reuse and recycling. We will continue to monitor these technologies and consider how, through schemes such as EPR, businesses can be encouraged to adopt them. Requirements to be introduced as part of pEPR will mean that businesses will report more information on packaging and at a more granular level. This includes by type of packaging – primary, secondary and tertiary – and for packaging of consumer products by format (bottles, tubs, etc) and by plastic polymer. We will also require data to be reported on reusable packaging.