Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to incentivise the reuse of packaging.
Under the current packaging producer responsibility regime businesses that use reusable packaging are required to meet recycling obligations the first time this packaging is placed on the market.
Where the packaging has a life of at least four years, the business may discharge its obligation in relation to that packaging in four equal instalments over four years commencing in the year in which that packaging is first used. This will also apply under the new extended packaging producer regime.
In addition businesses using reusable household packaging will only be required to pay disposal cost fees the first time the packaging is used. In the Government Response to the consultation on extended producer responsibility published in March 2022 we stated we would consider other measures to encourage the use of reusable packaging with the intention of introducing these in 2025.