Businesses and manufacturers will be forced to pay for the recycling or disposal of packaging waste they produce, as part a major new government waste strategy.
The comprehensive strategy update – the first from the government in over a decade – aims to overhaul waste management in England and, for the first time, make those who produce packaging legally and financially responsible for the resulting waste.
By extending ‘producer responsibility’ the government aims to reverse the financial burden of waste management, which currently sees business pay for just 10% of disposal or recycling costs, whilst the taxpayer – via local authorities – picks up the remaining 90%.
Producers will also be expected to take more responsibility for expensive- or hard-to-recycle items, such as cars, batteries and electrical goods.
The wide-ranging Resources and Waste Strategy also targets a simplified and consistent approach to recycling across England in a bid to improve recycling rates, which have plateaued since 2013.
The strategy also includes plans for public consultations on both a deposit return scheme for “single-use” drinks containers – including plastic bottles, cans and take-away coffee cups – and a return to weekly food waste collections in a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from landfill.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove hopes the strategy will eliminate avoidable plastic waste and help leave the environment in a better state for future generations.
“Our strategy sets out how we will go further and faster, to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Together we can move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society, to one that looks at waste as a valuable resource,” said Gove.
“We will cut our reliance on single-use plastics, end confusion over household recycling, tackle the problem of packaging by making polluters pay, and end the economic, environmental and moral scandal that is food waste.
“Through this plan we will cement our place as a world leader in resource efficiency, leaving our environment in a better state than we inherited it.”
Public eye
The new government strategy builds on other recent policies aimed at reducing waste, including a ban on microbeads in personal care products and a 5p ‘carrier bag tax’, which has taken a reported 15 billion plastic bags out of circulation.
Waste management – and how to deal with plastic waste in particular – has never been more in the public eye, following David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series, which highlighted the dangers of waste pollution in our oceans.
Professor Richard Thompson, Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, believes the strategy outlines key steps towards making progress on waste reduction, but says that producers and consumers both have a key role to play.
“Engaging with producers is crucial because unless products are designed with end of life in mind it is almost inevitable that resource will be wasted unnecessarily,” said Prof Thompson.
“The consumer also has an essential role to play. Of course there are some instances where we simply don’t need to use plastics in the first place but there are many applications where plastics are the best materials for the job, and we need clear and accurate guidance to inform decisions and change behaviour.
“In my view this is broader than just the consumer and we need to change behaviours right along the supply chain so that we design, use and dispose of plastics more sustainably. It is only by doing so that we can realise the advantages of plastics without the current environmental impacts.”
