EPR & Business Waste Collections

The sprint group formed by UROC (the independent waste collectors and reprocessors association), INCPEN & the Environmental Services Agency to develop an alternative voucher-based system to the business waste collection proposals laid out in Defra’s EPR consultation document, is working at pace to ensure this proposal is considered by the government and included in its consultation response.

The government proposes businesses above de minimis pay for the costs of collecting waste. With more than 95% classified as small, those that qualify could be faced with an annual bill in excess of £1billion to provide a free bin service for small businesses, with the possibility of poorer quality waste placed in those bins.

The FPA is taking part in one of the working groups. We are concerned that successful specialist schemes for collecting paper cups and other items might be impacted by the government’s proposals, along with collecting used cups from smaller operators who might question paying for cup collections versus receiving a free bin.

There has been a growth in specialist collection and recycling schemes in recent years and we have long argued that audited schemes which result in more recycling than those typically enabled by local authority waste management, must not only have a financial incentive to continue but should be actively encouraged by government. The financial incentive will be that packaging recycled as a result of specialist schemes and taken out of local authority waste management, is removed from EPR bills.

With the government’s response to the three consultations unlikely to be published until next year, we very much hope it will give its full consideration to an alternative solution that will do more to deliver value and achieve the goals of increasing recycling and reducing waste, than the three options presented in the consultation.