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 statistics published in Packaging News on 9 December 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the factors that have led to the price increase from £9.75 in December 2020 to £190.00 in December 2021 of Glass Remelt Packaging Recycling Notes.

We know recent prices increases for glass remelt PRNs have caused challenges for some businesses and have had discussions with both industry and regulators, including the Environment Agency, to understand the causes behind them.

In the past year, as a result of closures related to the pandemic, we have seen less glass collection from hospitality businesses, which is usually higher quality because it is collected separately. Instead, there have been higher collections from households, which often requires additional sorting to make it suitable for remelt, incurring additional cost.

These restrictions on supply will inherently raise the cost of the PRNs under the UK’s market-based system, alongside the end of year compliance pressures.

The Government cannot intervene in the market, but we will continue to monitor the situation and have asked the regulator to keep us informed.