During Prime Minister’s Questions earlier, Nigel Mills, the Conservative MP for Amber Valley, welcomed the Office for National Statistic’s latest inflation data which showed that inflation had fallen by more than expected to 7.9%, but said price rises remain a concern.
In the first question after the leader of the opposition, Mr Mills asked: “Businesses in my constituency are trying to plan their pricing for next January and are struggling because of the proposals to introduce extended producer responsibility and they don’t yet have the information on how much it will cost or how it will work.
“So will the Prime Minister look at pausing and resetting that program so that what we don’t see in January is price rise in our supermarkets without the reduction in packaging and increase in recycling we want to see?”
Issue
In response, Mr Sunak said: “I thank my honourable friend for the question. This is something that has been a raised with me by those in the industry.
“We are committed to protecting the environment and delivering delivering on our net zero targets. Defra are continuing to engage closely with manufacturers retailers and packaging companies on the precise design of the scheme. And i know that ministers will continue to keep this house and might honorable friend updated.”
Delay
It had previously been reported that the Prime Minister had met with senior ministers over the delay, and the concerns over price prices during a cost of living crisis has led to question marks over the future of the scheme.
Producers have also not been shy in publicly calling for the system to be postponed, lamenting the lack of detail about how it works and labelling it not fit for purpose (see letsrecycle.com story).
Despite this, Defra has maintained that the system will be rolled out next year, amid mounting rumours (see letsrecycle.com story). The concerns over price rises and the inflationary impact EPR could have however will continue.
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