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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of delaying the full implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to review its impact on small producers of glass-packaged beverages to ensure the scheme does not undermine the (a) environmental and (b) economic sustainability of the sector.

Packaging extended producer responsibility is an important part of government’s wider commitment to transition to a circular economy. It is the cornerstone of the packaging reforms and delivers a £1.4 billion investment to local councils to deliver better recycling services to households across the UK. Together, the leaders of the UK’s largest waste management companies have said that these reforms unlock a £10 billion investment in the UK’s recycling capacity, creating 25,000 jobs.

pEPR in the UK has some of the most generous support measures for small businesses across any packaging scheme globally. These are exemptions from disposal fee and recycling (PRN) obligations for producers with an annual turnover below £2 million and packaging tonnage below 50 tonnes; and an exemption from data collection and reporting obligations for small businesses with turnover below £1 million and packaging tonnage below 25 tonnes. These exemptions apply to approximately 70% of businesses supplying packaging in the UK.

The Government is committed to the delivery of these important reforms.