Environment Bill finally becomes law after long delays

Following an unprecedented number of delays, the Government’s Environment Bill has now been approved by Parliament.

Over three years since the first draft of the Environment Bill was published – having had the first reading in January 2020 – and following a failure to get it passed prior to COP26, the Environment Act is now enshrined into UK law.

This is a major milestone for the UK, establishing a framework that will consider the environment as a whole and supporting nature restoration. Environmental campaigners have been keen to praise the bill while impressing that this should be a starting point, in the hopes that issues around government accountability and sewage discharge will be developed further.

The Environment Act will include the introduction of the Office for Environmental Protection, which is hoped to deliver robust measures and hold government and public bodies accountable to meeting environmental targets.

Waste and Resources in the Environment Bill

Looking specifically at the Environment Bill and the impact on the resources and waste sector, there are several key changes. These include:

• The introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to cover full net costs of disposal of packaging, eventually replacing the PRN system.
• The introduction of a Deposit Return System (DRS).
• Consistency in recycling collections across England.
• The ban or restricting of waste exports to non-OECD countries.
• Charges for single use plastics.

Defra explained that the Environment Act will help the “transition to a more circular economy, incentivising people to recycle more, encouraging businesses to create sustainable packaging, making household recycling easier and stopping the export of polluting plastic waste to developing countries”.

Charlotte Briggs, Policy and Engagement Lead at Clarity Environmental was pleased to see the Bill finally passed but warned of the impact of the delays on businesses.

“It is a relief to see The Bill finally being granted royal assent, which allows us to see measures in place to support the ambitious targets. However, the delays caused by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic have put many businesses on the back foot in preparing for legislative changes that will have a huge impact on their business.

The scale of change needed for the introduction of EPR, DRS and Consistency in Collections, and now with only a year to manage this seems out of reach, even for the most prepared of packaging producers and local authorities. Without support and guidance, many SMEs will struggle to make sustainable, environmentally-sound choices for packaging placed on the market, as well as managing forecasted costs of obligation and understanding carbon outputs, reuse options and food waste. The danger is that rushing through legislation may force businesses to change packaging materials to mitigate EPR costs, that will in turn increase carbon footprint.”

Learn more about legislation

If you believe that areas in the Environment Bill may impact your business, or your business needs to be kept up to date with changes to legislation for the Resources and Waste sector, get in touch with a member of our team.

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