We believe producer obligations and data reporting requirements will continue as an effective way to promote investment in recycling, despite Brexit.
We believe that the UK’s decision to leave the EU will have little impact on the country’s waste and recycling policy in the short to medium term.
Our members this morning will be understandably unsure about what steps to take as a result of yesterday’s historic vote, so we want to clarify our guidance. Companies are still required to meet their obligations when it comes to battery, packaging or waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) and we believe this will continue for the foreseeable future.
Short term impacts
In the short term, we could expect to see an element of exchange rate fluctuation and market disruption as businesses grapple with a wide range of knock-on effects affecting supply chains and international trade across a range of sectors.
ecosurety believes such changes however are unlikely to affect the work that producers need to do each year to achieve compliance because the current system already adjusts for these type of market movements.
Medium term impacts
In time, ecosurety expects the UK Government to consult with the industry on variations to the current system, but we certainly do not believe this will be at the top of the list of priorities. Especially when the current approach has a market price which is self-regulating and based on the competitive nature of supply and demand principles.
This means it’s business as usual for obligated producers for the foreseeable future. We will be exploring what a Brexit means in detail over the coming months in our news and blogs, and also via a series of webinars. Producers who require more information can register their interest here.
About ecosurety
Founded in 2003, ecosurety is the UK’s leading compliance scheme and resource efficiency specialist with end to end services including environmental compliance, waste and resource management, training and intelligence reporting. With more than 1,000 customers including The Co-operative Group, Innocent, BSkyB and Britvic, ecosurety is leading change in approaches to waste and compliance throughout the UK, driving ever greater efficiencies of resource use.
Committed to reducing the environmental impact of UK businesses while improving performance, ecosurety is targeting to influence over one million tonnes of waste by 2020.
James Piper
Non-Executive Director
James Piper is a non-executive director of Ecosurety, having previously taken on the role of CEO for nearly five years when he was now focused on leading the development of new products and services that not only benefited producers, but helped to drive change for good and a positive impact on UK recycling.
Useful links
The UK does not yet have comprehensive EPR systems in place, but that is set to change. Are you ready?
Read More >>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 >>
