Environment minister Thérèse Coffey has again hinted that changes to producer responsibility regimes for waste in the UK are likely to be contained in the waste strategy due out later this year.
There are expectations that the waste strategy could see producers imposed with either tougher voluntary or regulatory measures ranging from new items, such as mattresses, through changes to rules governing packaging waste.
On a visit to Paris earlier this week, the minister met her French counterpart Brune Poirson, minister for the ecological and inclusive transition, to discuss environmental issues including biodiversity, plastic in the oceans and ivory.
Therese Coffey with her French counterpart Brune Poirson earlier this week
Defra said that Dr Coffey also met with French company Citeo to learn more about the French system to reduce packing waste and increase recycling.
Citeo
Citeo is akin to the packaging waste system using PRNs in the UK although a different approach is used. Citeo is a collective of producer organisations working together to reduce packing from waste, including through improving packaging design. Members include Coca-Cola, Kronenburg, and French supermarkets.
Citeo was formed last autumn when Ecofolio and Eco-Emballages unveiled a merger to form the new company. The two environmental firms said they were joining forces to provide “new corporate services, modernise waste sorting and recycling and boost public involvement.” The pair claimed the merger created a “unique French centre of expertise, advice and innovation thereby fuelling the circular economy”.
Incentivise
Speaking about her visit to Citeo Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said: “We are working with industry looking at ways to improve recycling rates, including how we can better incentivise producers to manage resources more efficiently. The producer responsibility regime for packaging waste here in the UK has significantly improved recycling rates to 60% in 2015, which we want to see go higher.
“That is why we are keen to understand how other countries do things. I have been impressed by the measures to reduce packaging waste in France. We support the idea of making producers take more responsibility for reducing waste. I look forward to setting out more detail on how we will do this through our Resources and Waste Strategy later this year.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Packaging
