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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the statement by the British Beer and Pub Association entitled Chaotic new rules that will lead to pubs paying twice for recycling at a cost of £60 million a year - equivalent to 5,000 jobs, published on 11 March 2025, if he will (a) pause the rollout of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme and (b) make amendments to the scheme to avoid double-counting glass waste.

We do not intend to pause the rollout. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024 came into effect on 1 January 2025, PackUK, the Scheme Administrator has been appointed, and producers have started to accrue scheme costs from the 1 April 2025.

Since Autumn 2024, the Government has been working with stakeholders, including representatives of the hospitality sector, to consider potential amendments to the definition of household packaging. At a roundtable with industry chaired by Minister Creagh on 10 June it was agreed to establish an industry led group to develop approaches to remove dual use packaging that is unlikely to end up in household waste stream from obligation. This work is now underway.