“It is crucial now that government, industry and councils all put the foot to the floor in planning full implementation from 2025, and that Government extend EPR to cover other material types beyond just packaging.”
Cllr Darren Rodwell, environment spokesperson for the LGA said:
“The decision to delay the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is disappointing for councils. It means we lose crucial momentum on ambitions to clean up our environment, while council taxpayers continue to pay for dealing with unnecessary and unrecyclable waste.
“Good packaging can be important for keeping products fresh and intact. But everybody can see the unnecessary waste, across our shop shelves, delivered to our homes, and into our bins. For instance the UK gets through six billion bags of crisps a year, but there is usually more packet than crisps, they are nearly impossible to recycle, and that is just one item.
“The delay means there will be another year of excessive packaging impacting our environment and climate change, and further uncertainties and delays causing councils real difficulties in managing their long-term waste contracts.
“It is crucial now that government, industry and councils all put the foot to the floor in planning full implementation from 2025, and that Government extend EPR to cover other material types beyond just packaging.”