The government has formally responded to the Environmental Audit Committee’s recent report on plastic waste by pointing to plans to look at changes to the “entire regime”, including increased packaging producer responsibility.
However, the government was accused of “dragging its feet” by the committee’s chair, Labour MP Mary Creagh, who said the response was not adequate.
The government published an eight page response earlier today (26 February)
‘Plastic Bottles – Turning Back the Plastic Tide’ was released by the committee in December 2017 and called on the government to introduce a string of measures to cut down on plastic waste. This included the introduction of more water fountains to reduce single use plastics and also increased producer responsibility.
Reform
When calling for reform on producer responsibility measures, the December report claimed that industry has been calling for reform for years and the government should follow suit.
The EAC report said: “In order to make packaging producers more responsible for the type of products they are putting on the market, we recommend that the Government adapts a producer responsibility compliance fee structure that stimulates the use of recycled plastic, rewards design for recyclability, and increases costs for packaging that is difficult to recycle or reuse.”
The government published an eight page response earlier today (26th February) which outlined its positions on the points raised. With regards to “shifting the financial burden of packaging waste”, the government explained that upcoming legislation will “look at all aspects of the regime”.
“Tackling waste, especially waste plastic, is a key priority for the Government. The Clean Growth Strategy, published in October 2017, commits us to move towards zero avoidable waste by 2050 and announced that we are exploring changes to the packaging producer responsibility scheme. This will look at all aspects of the regime, including mechanisms to incentivise better design, encourage the use of recycled material and provide greater transparency for producer funding. “
Environment plan
The government also referenced its 25 year environment plan released earlier this year, in which it promised to look at each stage of a product lifestyle. This includes increased producer responsibility and making plastic easier to recycle which was referenced five times in the response.
There were also references to the upcoming Resources and Waste Strategy, which the government says will set out the approach to promoting well-functioning markets for secondary materials and incentivising producers to design better products.
The strategy was initially set for release in the first half of this year, though it’s believed this will be later.
Commenting on the response to increased producer responsibility, Mrs Creagh MP said: “Producers should be responsible for the packaging they produce, but shortfalls in the producer responsibility system have allowed producers to use complex, difficult to recycle plastics. The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy should adopt our recommendations to kick start more sustainable production of plastics.”
Deposit Return Scheme
The Environmental Audit Committee had called on the Government to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for all PET plastic drinks bottles, while also examining whether to extend this to aluminium cans in the upcoming strategy.
The response said the government would need to “consider how a DRS or other behavioural incentives would fit with other planned work”, including the potential tax on single-use plastics, in order to avoid producers or consumers being charged multiple times for the same products.
This led to accusations from Mrs Creagh that the government was “dragging its feet”.
“Every day the government delays, another 700,000 plastic bottles end up in our streets. This delay is unacceptable, the government must get its ducks in a row. The government needs to take decisive action on this important issue instead of kicking it into the long grass.”
The post Government emphasises producer responsibility appeared first on letsrecycle.com.
Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
