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EPR not a “blank cheque” for councils, says Valpak

Packaging waste compliance scheme Valpak has reassured obligated producers that fees under the new extended producer responsibility system are not a “blank cheque for local authorities”.

Valpak points out that the cost of inefficiency will remain with local authorities

Writing in a blog post on the new extended producer responsibility system, Valpak researcher Henry Smith offers reassurance to producers over the fees. He says that it “is a common misunderstanding that obligated producers will be financing local authority waste management costs in their entirety, even where local authority operations are inefficient or excessively costly.”

Principle

Mr Smith explains that while details of performance indicators that councils will have to adhere to – and the fees they will receive – are still to be announced: “The guiding principle behind the setting of EPR fees is to support the efficient and effective delivery of local authority waste collection services. This means that where local authorities underperform – even after accounting for their circumstances – the cost of inefficiency will remain with them, not funded by producer contributions.”

There will be no blank cheque for local authorities, Valpak notes (picture: Shutterstock)

He adds that while councils who are performing badly would received “targeted support”, EPR will not entail endless producer responsibility for their costs.

The new EPR system will eventually replace the existing packaging waste recovery and recycling note system (PRN) which was introduced in 1997. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has noted that the current PRN system “has never covered the full costs of disposing of packaging waste”.

Defra

Of the new system, the department has said: “Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will move the full cost of dealing with packaging waste from households away from local taxpayers and councils to the packaging producers (applying the ‘polluter[1]pays principle’), giving producers responsibility for the costs of their packaging throughout its life cycle.”

The new EPR system is to be implemented in a phased manner from 2024. Modulated fees, where producers pay more if their packaging is harder to recycle, will come in from 2025.

As yet, Defra has not announced who will administrate the new EPR system. A scheme administrator is due to be appointed this year with one idea being that the Environment Agency takes on the role, or a new organisation – along the lines of the Rural Payments Agency – is created.

Useful link
Valpak blog

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