Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Acknowledged
Set firm dates for clarifying producer responsibility fees and publishing simpler recycling consultation response.
Conclusion
Businesses and local authorities still do not have the clarity they need from the Department to prepare for the changes that will be required, which risks increasing costs and delaying implementation. The collection and packaging reforms are reliant on businesses and consumers changing their behaviour by producing less, and recycling more. The lack of clarity on the requirements of the simpler recycling scheme, uncertainty around fees obligated companies will pay under the extended producer responsibility scheme and the impact of the payments to local authorities on their funding leaves businesses and local authorities unable to prepare. For example, this could result in all local authorities procuring new lorries and bins at around the same time, placing pressure on supply chains. It has been over two years since the Department closed its consultation on simpler recycling, and it has not yet finalised or published its requirements. The Department expects simpler recycling to increase recycling rates from 42% to 52–60% by 2035 which, without significant contributions from other projects, would leave it well short of its 2035 target to recycle 65% of municipal waste. Municipal waste is household waste and similar waste from other sources, for example from businesses. Continued uncertainty is actively hampering councils from investing and improving their services, delaying procurement, and undermining local authorities’ efforts to increase recycling rates. 6 Government’s programme of waste reforms Recommendation 2 a) The Department should, as part of its Treasury minute response, set a firm date for when it will set out the fees obligated companies (namely, those that produce packaging or sell packaged goods) will pay under the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme, when it will clarify the impact of these payments for local authority funding, and when it will publish the government response to its consultation on simpler recycling. This consultation r
Government Response Summary
The government agrees but its response details existing and ongoing work (CPR programme, WEEE, batteries regulations, MRMW) and future hopes without providing the firm dates or clarity requested for packaging fees, local authority funding impact, or the simpler recycling consultation response.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented A multi-layered approach is essential to increase recycling rates. The CPR programme will get the department close to the target of a 65% recycling rate in England by 2035 and work is underway on to other policy areas to help reach this target, including the consultation on reviewing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. Department officials are currently reviewing the batteries regulations ahead of a consultation expected later this year which aims to drive up the volume of batteries that are collected and treated safely when they become waste. This complements the consultation on waste electricals published on 28 December 2023 and is available at Electrical waste: reforming the producer responsibility system in electrical equipment. Making it easier for householders to properly discard these items when they become waste can boost levels of recycling and reduce the risk of fires posed by their improper disposal. Modelling suggests that meeting the commitment to achieve a 65% municipal recycling rate by 2035 will require policies beyond CPR. Further work is required to identify potential policies beyond CPR and their potential contributions towards meeting the commitment. The department has developed waste and resource related indicators in the Outcome Indicator Framework (OIF) which, alongside the annual progress reports, monitor progress towards delivering the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP). There are several Outcome Indicator Framework indicators for ‘maximise resources, minimise waste’, one of which is the J3: Municipal waste recycling rates (defra.gov.uk) indicator. This currently uses an interim indicator of waste from household recycling rates. The department’s Resources and Waste statistics team are working to develop a statistical, data-driven definition of municipal waste and a municipal recycling rate metric with which to report progress against the commitment to achieve a 65% municipal recycling rate by 2035. These will feed into new statistical reporting publications and will be able to replace the OIF interim indicator. As part of work to refine the municipal recycling rate metric in development, the team have commissioned several projects looking into the origin of mixed waste codes such as chapter 19 codes, and the estimated tonnages of material rejected at recycling facilities that is then sent on to residual waste treatment. It is hoped that these projects will allow the department to report the rate of municipal waste that is actually recycled rather than the rate of municipal waste that is sent for recycling, as can be derived from currently available waste data, and identify tonnages of mixed waste codes that should be included or excluded from any definition of municipal waste. The recently published Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste programme (MRMW) sets out the department’s priorities for action to manage resources and waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy and supports the department’s drive to reaching this target and focusses on areas with biggest waste arisings.