On Wednesday 27 November, the main EPR Statutory Instrument (SI), currently making its way through the parliamentary process, was debated by a Delegated Legislation Committee in the House of Commons.
Led by MP Mary Creagh, the current Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Defra, Minister Creagh described the EPR reforms as a ‘critical first step [towards a] resource resilient, productive circular economy’.
The draft SI was met with very little disagreement from the other committee members. The Shadow Minister, Dr. Neil Hudson, thanked Minister Creagh for bringing forward the regulations, which were originally introduced by the Conservative government, leading to the debate being described as an ‘outbreak of unity’ between the parties.
However, it was noted by the Liberal Democrat representative, that a considerable burden has been apparent this year whereby packaging producers have had to report under two sets of regulations. Additionally, Shadow Minister Hudson emphasised that affected businesses need to be communicated with and given more certainty of their obligations well in advance to plan accordingly. Nonetheless, the debate ended with unanimous votes in favour of the instrument.
Review the approach to small businesses
Minister Creagh emphasised that small businesses, the ‘backbone’ of the economy, should not be unduly burdened when such reforms are introduced, and that therefore – after the first year of a full EPR system - the data gathered will be used to review the approach to small businesses to understand whether the de minimis is working as intended.
She additionally pointed out that unless environmental policies, such as EPR, are continually updated and behaviour change frequently encouraged, then desired sustainability outcomes are not realised. For example, the low and stagnated overall recycling rate increases over the last decade, that EPR will hopefully to some degree rectify.
You can view the parliamentary debate here.
