Defra is pushing forward the government’s red tape challenge, launching a consultation on the batteries and packaging regulations.
The government believes that bringing forward the right changes will produce a net benefit to business worth £28m over ten years.
The consultation is an opportunity for producers to have their say and feedback on the proposed changes. ecosurety will be contacting members to produce a consolidated response backed up with relevant data, to be submitted to Defra in May. This will make it as easy as possible for our members to contribute with the benefit of a louder collective voice – if you are interested in taking part please wait for us to contact you in May.
What changes are under review?
Batteries compliance
- Remove the requirement for operational plans and the requirement for annual approval of these plans
- Remove the requirement for batteries treatment operators and exporters to undertake an independent audit of their compliance activities.
- Enable producers to delegate the sign off of reporting and monitoring requirements to the most appropriate person in agreement with the relevant environment agency.
Packaging compliance
- Remove the requirement for operational plans
- Transfer responsibility for approving new compliance schemes from the Government to the environment agencies
- Enable producers and compliance schemes to delegate the sign off of reporting and monitoring requirements to the most appropriate person in agreement with the relevant environment agency.
Plastics sub-assessment
A sub-assessment (call for evidence) on waste plastics is also included. EU and UK proposals for new/higher recycling targets are questioned following the ‘Plastic-Flow report’ suggesting the integrity of current reporting for plastic supplied into the UK market was not accurate.
The paper also confirms proposals that were rejected following last year’s review:
- The UK will not be raising packaging deminimus threshold to >£3m turnover
- The UK will not be raising batteries deminimus threshold to 2/3 tonnes
- The UK will not use solely retrospective battery data to set recycling target per producer
- The UK will not allow battery producers to exclude exports from quarterly reporting
What should Producers do now?
You can find out more about the Defra producer responsibility consultation here.
ecosurety will be directly in touch with packaging and batteries compliance members in May to coordinate a structured, collective submission. A report detailing the planned submission will then be circulated to all participants.
Want to find out more? Our experts are on hand to answer any questions or concerns you may have now – simply contact the ecosurety compliance team by emailing info@ecosurety.com or calling 0845 094 2228.
About ecosurety
ecosurety was set up in 2003 (originally as Budget Pack) and specialises in sustainable business practice, driving efficiencies at every level for its 1,000-plus UK member companies.
Its market-leading integrated services span sustainable strategy, waste, compliance and intelligent reporting. In 2014 the company received the Institute of Directors' Corporate Responsibility Award for the South West.
By shaping and supporting best practice in waste and recycling ecosurety is driving greater efficiency in the resource cycle and reducing demand for raw materials. By 2020 ecosurety is targeting influence over 1 million tonnes of waste.
Robbie Staniforth
Innovation and Policy Director
Robbie is innovation and policy director at Ecosurety. Having spent years building an intimate understanding of the industry’s policies and politics, he uses this knowledge to help shape new legislation and oversees Ecosurety’s growing portfolio of cross-industry innovation projects including Podback and the Flexible Plastic Fund. He has worked closely with Defra during the most recent packaging consultations, outlining the impacts and required transitional arrangements of the UK’s new EPR system and is a member of the government’s Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP). He is also a spokesperson for the company and regularly uses his influence to communicate the importance of environmental responsibility to external stakeholders.
Useful links
The Q4 verified recycling figures released by the Environment Agency indicate a reasonably performing quarter and a strong year overall for 2023.
Read More >>Amendments to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging data regulations are currently moving through parliament, ready to be passed by the end of March.
Read More >>The Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) FlexCollect project has released an interim report showcasing the early insights from the seven local authorities currently running flexible plastic kerbside collection pilots, covering nearly 30,000 households from across the UK.
Read More >>
