LARAC was represented on the ACP, which was of major significance in advising the government on issues to be addressed in this summer's consultation on possible changes to the packaging system (see letsrecycle.com story). However, at its latest meeting in Birmingham, the committee was concerned about calls for packaging recovery targets to be placed on local authorities on top of the existing council recycling targets.
LARAC sees the recommendation for additional local authority targets as result of producers “once again looking to shift their responsibilities onto local government”.
Steve Palfrey, LARAC policy officer, said: “Whilst there is a large amount of packaging in the household waste stream that local authorities can help producers recover, this does not mean producer responsibility shifts onto local authorities. The suggestions that central funding currently being provided to local authorities to help them meet their own targets should be used to collect the lighter fractions of packaging is also misplaced. Surely that is what the packaging recovery note system is there for? We agree that more transparency in this would be beneficial to all concerned.”
Mr Palfrey added: “We make no apologies for being seen to concentrate on 'heavier' materials to meet our own weight-based targets just as producers targeted commercial waste first to meet their targets.”
The packaging consultation being carried out by DEFRA (see letsrecycle.com story) is in part based on the ACP's recommendations and looks at how the packaging system can be updated, as well as what kind of targets need to be decided, to meet the higher recycling targets decided by the European Union for 2008. The consultation closes in October.
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