UK government considers EPR postponement to avoid £1.7B extra costs

21 Jun 2023 --- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reportedly preparing to delay extended producer responsibility (EPR) reforms planned for April 2024 to ease rising consumer costs. While no official announcement has been made, industry representatives have been calling for an extension on implementation in the past weeks. 

The news, reported by The Telegraph, says that talks are currently being held by the 

British government to postpone EPR legislation, which will impact companies earning over £1 million (US$1.2 million) and selling their own-branded products, importing packaged products, or distributing non-UK-made plastic goods through an online marketplace.

Any business responsible for more than 25 tons of packaging in 2022 will also be impacted. 

These businesses must report their packaging waste data beginning in January and cover their entire waste disposal expense by April.

But with concerns over the UK’s cost of living crisis and calls for an early general election being raised, Sunak may pause the EPR legislation. 

Industry concerns
Industry leaders have raised concerns that implementing EPR at the current date will result in an additional £1.7 billion (US$2.1 billion) in costs annually, which could be passed on to consumers through higher food prices.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents major retailers and supermarkets in the UK, has said the country lacks the necessary recycling infrastructure to justify higher business charges. 

Speaking to Packaging Insights, Robbie Staniforth, innovation and policy director at Ecosurety, says: “While it would be a shame to delay the implementation of EPR even further, it appears all but impossible to deliver the scheme to the already revised timescales. So many facets of the system are not ready, from the consistent household packaging collection system to the creation of a scheme administrator. Packaging producers have not been able to accurately budget because of the serial delays within the governments.”

“The new EPR system needs to deliver a huge shift in levels of reuse and recycling of packaging. If the governments forge ahead, they risk simply shifting the bill payer without actually delivering any environmental benefit. The good news is that the data reporting legislation has become law so at least the governments can begin to more accurately assess the amount of packaging placed onto the market in 2023 in advance of introducing new fees.”

By Louis Gore-Langton