The result of the judicial review, held in the Crown Court earlier this month, is expected in the next few days and may have wide-ranging consequences within the retail industry.
The case centres around discussions the Environment Agency has held with Valpak, the country's largest compliance scheme, over who bears the responsibility to recover packaging material consumed 'on the premises' within licensed public houses.
Valpak's Jeremy Cuthbert said: “We and the industry in general are seeking to clarify who bears the 'seller' obligation under the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997. The EA have one point of view, we and many others share another point of view.”
Obligation fears
Back in the early nineties, many large brewers set about buying pubs throughout the country, and in order to simplify the obligation process for the individual landlords, those brewers took on the obligation themselves.
However, in recent years many brewers have sold these pubs. Therefore, as far as they are concerned – and as far as Valpak is concerned – brewers should no longer be obligated to recover the packaging, because it is the pubs that are selling it to consumers.
If the brewers are no longer obligated, and responsibility for selling packaging such as beer bottles passes to individual landlords, then the material in question will no longer fall under the recovery regulations, since only companies who deal with 50 tonnes or have a turnover of 2 million a year are obligated. Aside from chains of pubs, a ruling in favour of Valpak and the brewers might lead to the loss of a large amount of packaging that could otherwise be recovered within the ambit of the packaging waste regulations.
The Environment Agency fears that if such a ruling applies to licensed retailers, it might also apply to unlicensed retailers. The EA's Ian Jones said: “We're worried that if Valpak and the brewers have their way, this ruling might apply not just to alcoholic beverages and licensed retailers, but also to non-alcoholic drinks in cafs and restaurants. If that happens we think there will be an overall decrease in obligations – and we'll have to make up the recycling targets with something else.”
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