Packaging Industry (Hansard, 19 December 1995)

§ Mr. Gummer

On 15 December, I met 30 representatives of leading businesses involved in packaging to hear their views on the best form of legal obligation to implement producer responsibility for packaging. This was a final opportunity to hear industry views before Government make their decision.

The first part of the meeting was chaired by Sir Peter Parker, president of the Industry Council on Packaging and the Environment, whom I had asked to help resolve remaining differences of view in industry on alternative methods of achieving a shared approach to producer responsibility for packaging. As a result of his discussions a proposal combining elements of both approaches and agreed by the meeting has now been submitted to me.

The main elements of this industry proposal are as follows:

Information. The Environment Agency should develop and acquire data on major package material flows, waste streams and recovery processes and make this available to the industry.The legal obligation to valorise packaging to specific targets. A staged approach should be applied as follows, with the introduction of regulations in summer 1996:By the end of Year 1 (mid-1997) individual businesses or schemes should be under an obligation to provide packaging flow data to the Environment Agency;By Year 3 (1998–99) individual businesses or schemes should be assessed on completion of the first (3 year) tranche of recycling/recovery obligations. Compliance with Interim targets should not be enforced before 1998.1103WA review of the legal obligation involving all sectors of the packaging industry should be carried out on behalf of the Secretary of state by the end of 1997.An Advisory Committee, giving balanced representation to the industry sectors involved, should be established early in 1996 to advise the Secretary of State on the drafting and implementation of the regulations and on arrangements for carrying out a review of the legal obligation, including consideration of actual burden on individual companies.The principles on which the legal obligation should be based are:

1. the use of packaging;
2. the need to ensure effective co-operation throughout the packaging chain to achieve recycling and recovery, taking account of equity and the different roles of each sector.

c. that each sector must play an equitable part in relation to the domestic waste stream.For the first two years, the legal obligation for sectors having taken into account exports and imports at all levels should he initially as follows (these would be the basis for figures applied to businesses outside a collective scheme):Raw materials and imports: 5½per cent.Converters and imports: 14½per cent.Packer fillers and imports: 35 per cent.Retailers, importers and distributers: 45 per cent.In the operation and monitoring of the obligation, the maximum practicable use should be made of sampling; "ready reckoners" and counting at the interface between 2 sectors.Companies supporting this approach are clearly committed to the principle that costs will be passed down the chain and through to the ultimate consumer.Companies supporting this approach and wishing to join a collective scheme would be expected to commit themselves for the first 2 years (or such longer period as may be agreed) to raise funds through a turnover-related annual membership fee, subject to a maximum of £50,000 for the largest UK turnover and with proportionately smaller fees for smaller companies.

I welcome the very real efforts made by businesses in all sectors to achieve a consensus on the best means of implementing a shared responsibility approach in which they can have confidence.

Government will now need to consider and decide on the best form of the legal obligation, taking account of all relevant considerations.

I am placing copies of the full text of the industry proposal and a list of those who attended the 15 December meeting in the Library.