Retailers urge government for recycling reform

Retailers are calling on the government to urgently rethink its proposed recycling reforms due to concerns that the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme is fundamentally flawed.

Without significant investment in recycling infrastructure in Britain, households in the UK could be footing the bill for EPR without any meaningful improvements to UK recycling rates, a prospect which has been absent in campaigning ahead of next month’s local elections.

Retailers are also committed to reducing waste and packaging and want reforms that truly deliver on these aims, but are concerned about the scheme, which is due to come into force in April next year. 

At a cost of at least £1.7bn per year, businesses want a world class new EPR scheme that significantly increases the use of recycled materials in new packaging as they try to meet their ambitious sustainability goals. 

But DEFRA’s current proposals for EPR lack ambition and fail to set out how an effective, efficient, national and fit for the future recycling system will be created in the UK, including how EPR funds would be ring-fenced to stop local councils diverting funds away from recycling to other budget streams.  

Retailers are also calling for changes to the way the system is managed, to bring the UK in line with the best worldwide recycling schemes. High performing European and Canadian programmes are industry-led, with businesses responsible for running the system, to drive overall cost-efficiency and increase investment that would ensure a reliable supply of recycled materials are available for use in future packaging, all while minimising the amount of waste heading to landfill. 

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “It’s time that the Government went back to the drawing board. We have the opportunity to get it right on the future of a waste management scheme that will determine UK recycling rates for a generation. We want to see a scheme which improves recycling in the UK and ensures a steady supply of recyclable material that can be reused for future packaging.  

“Under existing proposals, funding meant for UK recycling could end up servicing local authority debt or be put to use which do not improve our national recycling infrastructure. Government’s haste to introduce a new system is undermining the system itself. It’s time to work with retailers and manufacturers to ensure the public gets a world class recycling system that collects and processes as much recyclable material as possible.”