What has changed since the governments 2018 packaging plan?

In 2018 the UK government revealed an exciting new plan to tackle packaging waste and up recycling rates significantly. The plan was popular amongst the public, with many eager to see the results of the bold new plan.

The plan included a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, The Plastic Pact and more efficient household and business collections of waste. It also included a lengthy list of banned single use plastic items.

However, unsurprisingly progress is slow- especially with a global pandemic and a war. This is despite waste minister Jo Churchill citing that “considerable progress” has been made.

What has changed since 2018?

At least 53% of the UK’s residual waste is made up of recyclable material. However, due to waste contamination from inaccurate use of household and communal bins and local authorities lacking resource to sort through the overwhelming amounts of contaminated waste they receive, recyclable waste ends up in our landfill and incineration sites.

The ongoing improper treatment of waste has had a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of the government’s plan to tackle the packaging problem. Since the plans were announced in 2018, 4 years down the line there has been a 1.6% decrease in England’s recycling rates, with only Wales hitting the 2020 target of 50% of household waste to be recycled.

The government’s targets to have 68% of all waste recycled by 2024 and 76% in 2030 are becoming seemingly unrealistic, especially when taking into consideration that only 1 out of 3 UK nations hitting their 2020 recycling target.

What’s to come?

However, there is good news. The 2024 incoming Extended Producer Responsibility regulations could be the answer to all our ‘rubbish’ problems.

EPR is set to heavily encourage brand owners to use fewer problematic materials in their packaging and products and give local authorities a cut of £1.7bn to better manage waste. EPR is a popular solution to waste problems globally and has been embraced in Britain, despite Brexit.

Brand owners to use easy to recycle materials in their products. Under EPR there is will be a binary system in place for labelling, products will either be labelled as ‘recycle’ or ‘do not recycle’ with the hopes that consumers will favour the recyclable product.

A 2021 research study on Gen Z consumer habits found that over 56% of consumers are less likely to buy from a retailer if their e-commerce packaging isn’t sustainable or resourceful – pointing to even more evidence that EPR will change our wasteful ways for good.