Chamber News
Producers to Pay for the Environmental Costs of Packaging
29 March 2022 • Sarah Medcraf
Major reforms to tackle excess packaging and boost recycling rates have been published.
Under UK-wide plans, producers will be responsible for the waste created by their products, ensuring that more packaging is made recyclable or reusable.
Fees will be weighted, with producers paying more for packaging that is harder to reuse or recycle.
This will mean that businesses have to use less packaging and to make sure what they do use is either recyclable or reusable.
The fees will help fund improved local recycling collections of packaging waste from households.
Larger coffee shops, fast food chains and others who sell drinks in disposable paper cups will have to provide a dedicated bin to collect and recycle these from 2024.
The announcement follows a joint consultation by the four UK nations.