House of Lords committee to work out cost of meeting 2006 packaging targets

The House of Lords Energy, Industry and Transport sub-committee of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union will look at the proposed new recycling and recovery targets submitted by the Commission to the European Parliament and see whether they can be met. The proposed amendments for 2006 are: an overall recovery target between 60% and 75%; an overall recycling target between 55% and 70% and material specific recycling targets of: glass 60%; paper/board 55%; metals 50%; plastics 20%.

The House of Lords investigation is running in parallel to a consultation on the proposed figures which is being carried out by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The DTI is seeking views on whether the packaging waste targets for 2006 should be delayed for two years to 2008 because the European Commission is late in publishing information to support work on the targets.

The House of Lords European Union committee scrutinises and reports on proposed European legislation and a sub-committee is now looking at the costs that meeting the packaging waste directive imposes on businesses in the UK. The committee is asking for evidence on the costs and benefits of meeting the revised targets in a bid to find out whether the current UK approach to the directive through the Producer Responsibility Obligations is an effective and fair mechanism to achieve compliance. The select committee is calling for evidence from government, waste management companies, community groups and other interested parties.

The inquiry aims to answer whether the UK is capable of meeting these targets and if so, at what extra cost? The inquiry will compare the UK's system of achieving compliance with the German, Dutch and Danish approach and methods used by other EU Member States.

The committee also wants views on who should pay and whether responsibility should lie with local authorities or consumers, instead of just the producer chain.

Evidence should be submitted to Patrick Wogan, Committee Office, House of Lords, London SW1A 0PW by April 22 2002 or e-mail woganp@parliament.uk