Since the 1 April 2016, the Environmental Regulations team at Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has now transferred to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The team has responsibility for a range of waste mandates and policies, which will now be run from within Defra, including:
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
- End of Life Vehicles (ELVs)
- Waste batteries and accumulators
- Packaging (Essential Requirements)
- Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS)
Greater coordination
In a statement from the government prior to the transfer, it stated that “with much of the legislation and related work split between the two departments, transferring the team and resource from BIS to Defra will enable, and ensure, greater coordination of government policy and the combined regulatory responsibilities”.
The change comes soon after cuts were made within BIS, which included the plan to close the department’s office in Sheffield by 2018, resulting in probable job losses, some of which could possibly affect the Environmental Regulations team.
Business as usual
These changes will have little to no impact on members and the step to move the six-person team at BIS into Defra will reinforce collaborative thinking between the two bodies and ensure any policy changes will reflect both the UK’s environmental and business requirements.
If you would like to discuss your compliance needs please contact our team of specialists on 0845 094 2228 or email info@ecosurety.com.
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 online Report Packaging Data portal is now live for large producers to complete enrolment and nominate their compliance scheme by 1 October.
Read More >>The ZAP project, funded by the Ecosurety Exploration Fund, was launched by the Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASBP) to help reduce the quantity of avoidable packaging plastic waste in construction, much of which is not recycled.
Read More >>Further changes to the Scottish DRS have been announced by the Minister for the Circular Economy Lorna Slater, who outlined changes to how the scheme will operate.
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