The requirements see most existing obligated businesses and additional ones having to collect data for the revamped packaging producer responsibility system which will succeed the current PRN system, and have producers paying councils for packaging waste collections.
“Extended producer responsibility for Packaging will make firms that supply household packaging more responsible for the costs of dealing with packaging waste, moving costs away councils and council taxpayers,” the department explained.
And, Defra noted that “from today, all obligated packaging producers in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland must collect information on the amount and type of packaging they have supplied during 2023. Wales will follow shortly.
“Producers with a turnover of greater than £2 million and who handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year must also report this information to the Environment Agency twice a year. The first reports must be submitted from 1 October 2023.”
Incineration
Environment minister Rebecca Pow said: “We need to stem the flow of packaging which goes unrecycled and instead is lost forever to landfill and incineration.
“As set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan, these reforms will encourage businesses to increase their use of recyclable materials, shifting costs away from the taxpayer and supporting our work to protect the environment from the scourge of waste.”
Natural environment
Deep Sagar, chair of the Advisory Committee on Packaging, said: “Packaging materials that are not recycled back into new packaging harm our natural environment. Councils have to spend more managing that waste and the public cannot enjoy spaces such as parks and high streets as they should.
“EPR will reduce that waste. It will make goods producers pay for collection of all packaging waste encouraging them to reduce or recycle more packaging. I look forward to supporting government and industry in making this smart policy work for the public and improving the environment.”
Game-changer
Claire Shrewsbury, Director of Insights and Innovation at the Waste and Resources Action Programme, emphasised that for EPR to work, “it must serve all – producers, local and central government, recyclers, and the public.”
Ms Shrewsbury continued: “The introduction of an EPR for packaging could be a game-changer. If done effectively, it could reduce the impact packaging has on the environment by regulating material use and increasing recycling.”
Defra said the data gathered this year will provide the basis for establishing the packaging waste management fees individual producers will pay in 2024, when the new packaging EPR system comes into force.
Useful link
The EPR reporting requirements
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