Extended Producer Responsibility

CPRE Recommendations"

"We’re calling on the government to: ......​

​

......1.2.  Introduce a full Extended Producer Responsibility scheme (EPR) by the end of 2023 that is transparent, accurate and detailed and which provides full end of life costs, to specific types of materials. Fees to producers should be sufficiently modulated in order to incentivise eco-design and to drive a continued reduction in the production and sale of single-use plastics. Fees should also cover the costs of street cleansing and any targeted anti-littering campaigns.

1.3.  Use a combination of taxes and charges, combined with full extended producer responsibility, to incentivise a reduction in single-use items and packaging right across the supply chain. Charges on single-use items, such as cutlery, must cover all single-use items and not just plastic to guarantee against a rise in wasting other valuable materials.

For further information see here​.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR)

Manufacturers will become responsible for the full cost of disposing of the packaging waste they create. This will boost recycling and incentivise the design of reusable and recyclable packaging. The present packaging regulations set more limited recycling targets, which vary according to the type of material.

​

Schedule 6 to the Bill allows the Government to make regulations that require those involved in manufacturing, processing, distributing or supplying products or materials to meet, or contribute to, the disposal costs of those products. By the end of 2025, EPR could be extended beyond packaging to hard-to-recycle materials such as textiles, fishing gear, vehicle tyres, construction materials, and bulky waste such as mattresses, furniture and carpets. (from Croner-I)

​

Overarching principles for packaging Extended Producer Responsibility:

 

• Producers are incentivised through the fees they pay or by other complementary measures to reduce unnecessary and difficult-to-recycle packaging, to design and use packaging that is recyclable and to promote reusable or refillable packaging where it is a feasible option.

• Producers will pay into the system either directly or through the price they are charged by others in the supply chain consistent with the ‘polluter pays’ principle.

• Producers will bear the full net cost of managing the packaging they handle or place on the market including at end-of-life to achieve agreed targets and outcomes.

• Costs paid by producers will support a cost-effective and efficient system for managing packaging waste, including the collection of a common set of packaging materials for recycling from households and businesses. 27 of 213

• Actions by producers will enable consumers to play their part and correctly manage packaging waste through access to good services, labelling and other means that tell consumers how to recycle and dispose of packaging, and enhanced communications campaigns.

​

Extract from  Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging Consultation Document 24 March 2021

​