PackUK was officially launched yesterday (21 January 2025) by Defra as the scheme administrator for the extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) regulations.
In particular, the NLWA expressed concern surrounding the lack of local authority or waste disposal and collection authority representation in the regulatory body.
Councillor Clyde Loakes, NLWA’s chair, called for the scheme administrator to consider that local authorities and producers are equally important for the successful delivery of pEPR.
He said: “The representation by those organisations which manage the waste must be equivalent to businesses which generate the waste. Previous attempts to address unsustainable packaging have marginalised local government representation to those attempts detriment and now we see that representation minimised again, which is unacceptable during a climate emergency.
“Furthermore, if the government is serious about transitioning to a circular economy, where business designs out waste and they reuse resources, the government needs to ensure that business is incentivised to innovate. Extended producer responsibility must encourage the research of alternative, sustainable materials that replace or dramatically reduce plastics use. It is not just about recycling.”
Ultimately the waste authority said it welcomed the establishment of the scheme administrator.
Plastic Packaging Tax
Additionally, the NLWA urged the government to ensure that that current plastic tax mechanisms are robust enough to ensure recycled content continues to be incentivised in packaging.
“Since 2022, all eligible businesses have had to pay a tax on plastic packaging that has less than 30% recycled plastic content. It’s led to an increase in recycled content in the product packaging of products on sale in the UK,” Loakes continued.
“However, with the announcement by Donald Trump that the US is withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and that his administration will encourage a dramatic increase in drilling for crude oil, the production of plastics from virgin oil may become much cheaper. It may cause businesses to prefer to pay a tax rather than incorporate recycled content in their packaging.”
“Therefore, the government must ensure that the use of recycled content continues to be encouraged and prioritised whatever happens with the price of oil – this could be done by potentially indexing the tax to virgin plastic prices as well as CPI, the current mechanism.”
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