Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what consideration she has given to amending the Extended Producer Responsibility base fees to introduce a sub-category for fibre-based composites containing between 5% and 15% non-fibre content.

Under pEPR, a fibre-based composite material is paper or card which has a plastic content, usually in the form of laminated layers which cannot be separated by hand, of more than 5%. This category distinguishes packaging with layers of plastic from paper and card packaging, supporting clearer producer reporting and fee calculations. The 5% plastic layer threshold was introduced to improve clarity, support alignment with reporting in Northern Ireland, and encourage continued progress towards reducing non-fibre content in the paper and card waste stream. PackUK reviews all categories and sub-categories on an annual basis, against the environmental outcomes of the scheme.