However, Dr Coffey said Defra is “restricted” in that the scheme administrator has to be from the public sector, as outlined by the Treasury.
The former recycling minister was speaking in an Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) select committee meeting yesterday, 28 March, and the subject of plastic waste was discussed at the end of the near three-hour meeting.
Committee chair Sir Robert Goodwill asked the environment secretary on her views on opposition from the Food and Drink Federation to parts of the EPR scheme. The MP for Scarborough and Whitby said representation from the federation has suggested they feel “the way local authorities collect waste is not at the scale or the high technology needed”.
‘Open’
In response, Dr Coffey said: “I met Food and Drink Federation members last week to talk through what we can do to progress with the management organisation which will be put in place and to bring in their thinking.
“I am open in terms of governance for them being on the board to drive the best outcomes. We are restricted in that it needs to be a public body, on the basis of designation of a status by the ONS and the Treasury.
“I want to make it as successful as possible. I am aware and conscious of industry and I hope we can move forward and work together to make it a good outcome.”
Administrator
Defra has committed to appointing a scheme administrator for packaging EPR “at the end of 2023” (see letsrecycle.com story).
The scheme administrator will determine how producers pay fees to cover local authorities’ full net disposal costs for household packaging waste.
It is thought the scheme administrator is likely to be a public sector body. One option under consideration is that the Environment Agency could take on the role, which would see it administer more than £1 billion of public funds from brand owners and others.
Exports
Later in the meeting, Dr Coffey was also quizzed about the role of plastic waste exports after the government rejected the EFRA committee’s call for a ban.
She said there is a “legitimate role for exports” as plastic waste is an internationally traded commodity. Dr Coffey added that there is an element of the circular economy in exports as a lot of products are made from that material again.
“We did say we would commit to banning exports to non-OECD and will consult this year on the timelines for this. We hope this will provide industry confidence to invest in domestic infrastructure. There are still investigations possible where things are not being handled appropriately, even within OECD countries, that is for the Environment Agency to investigate which they often have.”
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