Key responsibility for assessing whether the targets have been achieved lies with the Environment Agency in England and Wales, its Scottish counterpart north of the border, and the Environment Department in Northern Ireland.
No tonnage achievements have yet been announced. However, it is understood that the Environment Agency has said that all of the compliance schemes registered with it have provided a certificate of compliance. Verification of this is getting underway. And the Agency says that in England and Wales 91% of individually registered companies have already provided a certificate of compliance. It expects this number to rise in the coming weeks.
In Scotland, most certificates of compliance have also been received by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. The assessment of whether three schemes and over one hundred producers have complied with the regulations is still being carried out. The final outcome is expected early next month.
Following recent statements on compliance plans, a SEPA spokeswoman clarified the relationship between the plans and the assessment of whether a producer or scheme has taken reasonable steps to recover and recycle. She said: “Whilst the contents of a compliance plan may be taken into account, the assessment of whether a producer or scheme has taken reasonable steps to
recover and recycle is based primarily on what they have actually done and
the context within which they have done it.”
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