ESA seeks ‘high-level discussion’ with Defra on export ban

The claim was made by the association’s executive director Jacob Hayler yesterday (17 November), when responding to last month’s appointment of Thérèse Coffey as environment secretary (see letsrecycle.com story).

The trade body highlighted that both its members and the board have welcomed Dr Thérèse Coffey back to the role of secretary of state at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

‘Supportive’

Mr Hayler stated that the ESA and its members “remain supportive of the Government’s forthcoming packaging and recycling reforms, which are still to be implemented since the publication of RWS”. He added that they are committed to working with the Government “to ensure successful delivery”.

Mr Hayler then argued that the delay in timelines for the delivery of these flagship reforms is inhibiting the necessary infrastructure investments happening in a timely manner. “The recent proposal by the parliamentary EFRA Committee to ban plastic waste exports by 2027 places an even greater emphasis on rapidly expanding our domestic recycling capacity,” he noted.

The ESA’s executive director was referring to the Committee’s report published last week (7 November). Alongside a ban on plastic waste exports by the end of 2027, the document titled also called on the government to publish a roadmap on how to it could achieve the ban by March 2023 (see letsrecycle.com story).

‘Investment’

“ESA’s members stand ready to make the £10 billion of investment that will be required in both new and upgraded facilities to meet the Government’s recycling ambitions over the next 10 years,” Mr Hayler stated.

He added that this investment would re-shore thousands of jobs, reduce our reliance on waste exports, while building a more circular economy, helping to reduce emissions and deliver the Government’s RWS.

Mr Hayler concluded: “Our board would welcome a high-level discussion with the minister about how we as a sector can work in collaboration to realise the government’s ambitions and make the direction of travel towards an export ban possible.”