Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Government to delay new recycling scheme amid pressure from food makers

Government to delay new recycling scheme amid pressure from food makers
iStock image
Getty Images

UK government may delay extended producer responsibility for packaging (EPR) scheme amid pressure from retailers and food producers, which have warned that it will increase food and drink prices amid the cost of living crisis.

The new £1.7 billionn a year recycling scheme, due to take effect in 2024, would make companies responsible for bearing the costs of collection, sorting, recycling and disposal of packaging waste.


According to a recent report on Financial Times, ministers were reviewing its implementation and likely to announce a delay within days, sparking criticism from environmental groups. As set out, the EPR scheme will apply to companies that supply packaged goods to the UK market under their own brand, import products in packaging or sell non-UK made plastic products via an online marketplace.

Under the new rules, first proposed in 2018, they would have to collect and publish data on their packaging and pay various costs before obtaining formal “notes” from reprocessors confirming the packaging waste has been recycled. Payments would be made to a publicly run scheme administrator before being passed to councils to collect plastic waste and handle its recycling.

Retailers, manufacturers and food producers have been urging ministers to postpone the EPR scheme, saying it would not benefit the environment as intended and that the cost of the charge, if passed on by producers, could add up to £60 a year to household bills.

Karen Betts, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said the scheme was “likely to prompt further price increases, just at the time when food and drink companies are working round the clock to keep prices down for hard-pressed households”.

Environmental groups, on the other hand, have warned that a delay risked pushing the reforms beyond the general election expected next year.

Libby Peake, head of resource policy at Green Alliance, a think-tank, said it was “ridiculous” that after five years the government had failed to implement the EPR.

“To scrap it now would mean they had wasted all that time,” said Peake, adding that she sympathised with producers that have had no say in fixing the UK’s “dysfunctional” recycling system and that some of the best EPR schemes had been led by business.

Nusa Urbancic, chief executive of the Changing Markets Foundation, also criticised the prospect of a delay, saying that the supermarkets and consumer brands that benefit from cheap disposable packaging should pay for its disposal.

“By listening to these lobby groups, the UK has become a real laggard when it comes to environmental legislation,” she said.

Asked by Tory MP Nigel Mills at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday (19) if the government planned to “pause or reset” the programme, prime minister Rishi Sunak said he had listened to industry concerns and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was “continuing to engage closely with manufacturers, retailers and packaging companies on the precise design of the scheme”.

More for you

Yvette Cooper

Home secretary Yvette Cooper speaking at the annual conference hosted by the NPCC and APCC on 19 November 2024

Photo: GOV.UK

Home secretary pledges to restore neighbourhood policing

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has announced plans to rebuild neighbourhood policing and combat surging shop theft as part of an ambitious programme of reform to policing.

In her first major speech at the annual conference hosted by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners on Tuesday, Cooper highlighted four of the key areas for reform: neighbourhood policing, police performance, structures and capabilities, crime prevention.

Keep ReadingShow less
Andrew Bailey acknowledges retailers' warning on job cuts
Bank of England building on Threadneedle Street, CLondon (Photo: iStock)
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Andrew Bailey acknowledges retailers' warning on job cuts

Retailers are right to warn of potential job cuts as a result of tax increases announced at last month’s budget, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said.

Bailey appeared before the cross-party Treasury select committee on Tuesday (19), after almost 80 retailers claimed rising costs would make “job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty”.

Keep ReadingShow less
High Street shopping street
Photo: iStock

High Street Rental Auctions: Independent retailers urged to engage with local councils

The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has urged independent shop owners to reach out to their local councils about the government's newly announced High Street Rental Auction (HSRA) powers, which aim to tackle persistently vacant commercial properties on UK high streets.

Introduced through the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, the HSRA legislation will come into force on 2 December. It will give local authorities the ability to put the leases of long-term empty shops up for public auction, allowing businesses and community groups to secure short-term tenancies.

Keep ReadingShow less
Home energy smartmeter
Photo: iStock

Inflation jumps in October on higher energy bills

Britain's annual inflation rate jumped more than expected in October to back above the Bank of England's target as households and businesses faced higher energy bills, official data showed Wednesday.

The Consumer Prices Index reached 2.3 per cent from a three-year low of 1.7 percent in the 12 months to September, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nestle

Nestle logos are pictured in the supermarket of Nestle headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, February 13, 2020

REUTERS/Pierre Albouy/File Photo

Nestle to step up marketing investment; Waters and beverages to become standalone business

Nestle on Tuesday said it will increase investment in advertising and marketing to 9 per cent of sales by the end of 2025. The company also announced plans to make its waters and premium beverages activities a global standalone business from New Year.

Unveiling a plan to fuel and accelerate growth at a Capital Markets Day for investors and analysts, the Swiss group also said it aims cost savings of at least CHF 2.5 billion (£2.25bn) above existing initiatives by end 2027 to fund increased investments.

Keep ReadingShow less