Packaging

(asked on 30th April 2019) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage online businesses to use environmentally friendly packaging.


Answered by
Thérèse Coffey Portrait
Thérèse Coffey
This question was answered on 7th May 2019

The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England published in December last year sets out our plans to reduce plastic pollution and move towards a more circular economy. This builds on the commitment in the 25 Year Environment Plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste.

Our priority is to prevent or reduce waste in the first place. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations already require businesses, including online retailers, to ensure that all their packaging does not exceed what is needed to make sure that the products are safe, hygienic and acceptable for both the packed product and for the consumer. As part of the Resources and Waste Strategy, we have committed to review the effectiveness of these regulations by the end of next year. These regulations apply to those responsible for the packing or filling of products into packaging and those importing packed or filled packaging into the UK from elsewhere.

We are also consulting on reforms to the way we manage packaging waste. The reforms to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations will require producers to fund the full net cost of managing the packaging they place on the market, once it becomes waste. This creates an incentive for companies, including obligated online businesses, to use less packaging and to ensure that their packaging can be recycled at end of life as it will reduce their costs in complying with the regulations.

We have set out in our consultation options for how we want to enhance the incentive for producers to make better packaging design choices. The options are for a modulated fee system or a deposit fee system. These options provide a financial incentive for producers, in addition to the full net cost fees, to move towards using more easily recycled packaging materials and formats.

In addition to this, the consultation also sets out a proposal to require online marketplace businesses to ensure that the packaging that is sold through their websites from outside the UK is compliant with the regulations.

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