Defra seeks ways to improve Packaging Regulations

Ideas for improving the producer responsibility system for packaging and better aligning it with that for WEEE and batteries were discussed yesterday (April 18) at a workshop in London.

The event was held by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for those involved in the packaging supply chain and attracted around 30 delegates ranging from obligated producers to producer compliance schemes and reprocessors.

It followed a commitment by Defra last month to reduce the administrative burden of a number of environmental regulations on businesses as part of its Red Tape Challenge (see letsrecycle.com story).

Defras head of producer responsibility Sarah Steeds said: The purpose of the workshop is to give you the opportunity to feed into the Department any ideas or proposals you have and how the existing Packaging Regulations could be improved.

We are particularly interested to hear the impact of administrative processes associated with these regulations have on your business and how you think this could be alleviated.

“We are also keen to hear ideas around how the processes associated with the Regulations could be better aligned with the Producer Responsibility systems for batteries and WEEE in order to deliver a greater level of coherence.

BIS

At present, Defra shares responsibility for different parts of the extended producer responsibility system – including packaging, WEEE and batteries – with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). All the systems are different and require producer compliance schemes and/or producers to register separately and submit separate operational plans.

One idea put forward by stakeholders was the possibility that one department could take charge of all producer responsibility regimes, while others suggested that compliance schemes could become accredited as general producer responsibility schemes so they do not need to get separate approvals in place for packaging, WEEE and batteries.

Data requirements emerged as a concern from some stakeholders, who said they found the current system for packaging onerous. In particular it was noted that some smaller companies pay more in fees and administrative costs to meet their obligations than they do inbuying packaging recycling evidence, known as PRNs.

The possibility of common registrations and bringing data requirements in line was also discussed, as well as theoptionofchanging the de minimis threshold at which producer responsibility kicks in.

For its part, Defra stressed that it was only interested in hearing ideas and was not looking at policy changes as yet, and stressed that the PRN system would remain.

One stakeholder who attended the meeting told letsrecycle.com: There were lots of good ideas and this meeting was long overdue.

However, another stressed that it was early days and said he feared that Defra did not have the time and resources to make any fundamental changes.

He said: It will be interesting to see the outcome. I dont think we will see any radical changes.

ACP

Bob Lisney, chair of the Governments Advisory Committee on Packaging, attended the first session of the workshop.

The work is at a very early stage and at some stage Defra and BIS will have to carry out a formal consultation on a range of issues and options. Our role in this has been to provide input, he said.

I think the industry will welcome this. There will be a number of options and different parts of industry will have a different view.

Commenting on the issue of packaging data, Mr Lisney said that a balance would have to be struck between reduce the administrative burden on business and ensuring that enough data was collected to prove that the UK was meeting the requirements of the Packaging Directive.

He said: It is a balancing act. We have to ensure we have got enough good data to show we are delivering what is needed under European law. We are keen to look at the validity of the current data against the options for change.

Im quite hopeful that we will be able to improve data and reduce the administrative burden in the packaging system as there is lots of ideas out there.