Reporting requirements for the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for packaging came into force on Tuesday 28 February.
From 28 February, all obligated packaging producers in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland must collect information on the amount and type of packaging they have supplied during 2023, with Wales following shortly.
Producers with a turnover of greater than £2 million and who handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year must also report this information to the Environment Agency twice a year.
The first reports must be submitted from 1 October 2023.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow, commented: “We need to stem the flow of packaging which goes unrecycled and instead is lost forever to landfill and incineration.
We need to stem the flow of packaging which goes unrecycled and instead is lost forever to landfill and incineration.
“As set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan, these reforms will encourage businesses to increase their use of recyclable materials, shifting costs away from the taxpayer and supporting our work to protect the environment from the scourge of waste.”
Once the policy comes into effect, producers will be required to pay an EPR fee towards the costs of collecting and managing household packaging waste. The UK government says this shift of cost is estimated to be around £1.2 billion per year across all local authorities once EPR is fully operational.
Before decisions are made about the final shape of the scheme, the UK government says it needs to gather information from businesses that will be affected and the data will provide the basis for establishing the packaging waste management fees individual producers will pay in 2024, when pEPR comes into force.
Lee Marshall, Policy and External Affairs Director, CIWM, commented: “It is good to see the EPR policy take another step forward today with the introduction of the reporting requirements on the producers of packaging.
“However, the pace needs to quicken and Defra need to continue to engagement with everyone in the materials chain to make these vitally important changes work. We also need to have clarity on how the Government plan to implement the consistent collections as these are an integral part of the EPR reforms.”
The introduction of an EPR for packaging could be a game-changer.
Speaking about the policy, Claire Shrewsbury, Director of Insights and Innovation at the Waste and Resources Action Programme, said: “The introduction of an EPR for packaging could be a game-changer. If done effectively, it could reduce the impact packaging has on the environment by regulating material use and increasing recycling.
“For EPR to work it must serve all – producers, local and central government, recyclers, and the public. We’ve been working with these key groups since 2018 to help collaboration on pEPR.”
