We all agree that something must be done about the vast quantities of packaging that are produced each year. The Extended Producer Responsibility regulations are a step in the right direction.
They came into law this year, and apply to every organisation that imports or supplies packaging, including charities. You might think that doesn’t extend to you because you don’t import or make packaging – but it does.
Here’s an example: if you are a pizza takeaway and you sell pizzas in boxes – those boxes are ‘supplied packaging’. If you run an online marketplace and package and deliver goods, you are a supplier.
Supplying means any one of these activities:
- supplying packaged goods to the UK market under your own brand
- placing goods into packaging
- importing products in packaging
- selling empty packaging
- hiring or loaning reusable packaging
- running an online marketplace
Any organisation type may need to comply as the criteria are turnover and packaging weight based. Even small producers (between £1m-£2m turnover who handle over 25 tonnes of packaging) have to collect data, report on their packaging activities and pay a fee.
“Whilst not yet mandatory for most SMEs, clients increasingly demand detailed reporting on recycling performance and carbon impact. Auditable sustainability data is becoming essential for winning customers across every sector.” – Veolia
Micro businesses will also be affected as larger producers pass on the costs. This is not good news for our community of micro businesses who work hard to find reasonably priced, environmentally friendly and recyclable packaging.
The original idea behind the legislation is that it will transfer the tax burden of packaging from the local tax payer (e.g. councils and council tax payments) to the producers of the packaging. The ones who continue to make packaging that is plastic, not biodegradable, and toxic to the environment. It will “make producers responsible for their products across the entire lifecycle”, including at the post-consumer waste stage (UN).
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) requires Member States of the European Union to arrange the collection, reuse and recovery of used packaging from the consumer to meet EU recycling targets (Europen Packaging). The Member States set up Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes so that they could pass on the legal responsibility to producers and importers of packaging.
Producers who make environmentally friendly and biodegradable or easily recyclable packaging are eco-modulated. Packaging is assigned a rating of Green, Amber or Red using the Recyclability Assessment Methodology (RAM) and ‘packaging that is easier to recycle is expected to attract lower fees than packaging that is more difficult to recycle’ (Clarity Eco).
In the UK, around 8,000 businesses will be affected. They’ll have to pay an estimated £1.5bn in costs. Johan Doherty, CEO of Re-Gen Waste thinks that because the scheme is weight based – recyclable materials like glass may be dropped in favour of lighter materials like plastic, despite the material and eco-modulated fee reductions.
“While the EPR scheme is an important step towards sustainability, the annual registration fee of £1,216 and the new reporting responsibilities are a significant new cost for small businesses to fit into their budgets” – Joe Phelan, money.co.uk (Packaging News).
He also fears a crisis for SMEs who are not prepared for the new regulations, unlike major producers like Pepsi and CocaCola who have been involved in talks with the government, have prepared internally and have the resources available. He feels the legislation has not been widely communicated. He thinks the ‘admin bureaucracy’ will be vast and add to the burden for small businesses in the UK (Let’s Recycle).