Ahead of the 4 June consultation deadlines, Ecosurety has publicly shared its responses to government to encourage as many stakeholders as possible to respond.
On 24 March UK Governments released the much anticipated second round of consultations that are set to radically overhaul producer responsibility for packaging, in line with commitments made in the Resources and Waste Strategy.
These included a consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging and a consultation on A Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A third consultation on introducing consistent recycling collections in England was later released on 7 May.
Head of innovation and policy, Robbie Staniforth commented “The EPR and DRS government consultations are critically important in the transition to the new world of extended producer responsibility for packaging. They provide a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to feedback directly to government and they will actively help to shape a level of legislative reform that only occurs every twenty years or so.”
“We are releasing our official responses to government ahead of the deadline so that our compliance scheme members and wider stakeholders can access our views when considering their own response. We believe the new system must be balanced and provide a positive direction of travel for many years to come. We encourage as many stakeholders to individually respond to government as possible.”
EPR for packaging
The consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging sets out a comprehensive reform to the producer responsibility system, including proposals that:
- Producers should be financially responsible for the entirety of their packaging waste
- There will be a single point of compliance, unlike the current system
- The PRN system will be replaced by modulated fees
- A binary labelling system will be operational by 2024/25
- A new governance system will be decided after the consultation
The consultation closes on 4 June 2021.
Click here to request the Ecosurety EPR consultation response
A DRS for England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Meanwhile the consultation on a Deposit Return Scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland seeks stakeholder feedback on the scope, design and operational logistics of a new scheme, including:
- Whether the scheme should be ‘all-in’ (containers up to 3L) or ‘on-the-go’ (containers under 750ml)
- A 90% collection target for in-scope materials
- Whether all retailers should host a return point
- The scope of the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO)
The consultation closes on 4 June 2021.
Click here to request the Ecosurety DRS consultation response
Consistency of recycling collections consultation
The third consultation on consistent collections focuses on introducing standardised collections of recyclable materials from both households and business by 2023. Ecosurety will publish its consultation response for this ahead of the 4 July deadline.
If you have any questions about our responses to the government consultations, please contact our team.
Ben Luger
Marketing projects specialist
Ben joined the team at the beginning of 2015 and helps drive marketing communications and projects for Ecosurety, including project managing the launch of the Ecosurety Exploration Fund and website content development.
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