Supermarket and supplier bosses are warning the government that they risk writing a multi-billion “blank cheque” after talks over new environmental proposals ended with calls for the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme to be delayed.
Last week, environment secretary Thérèse Coffey held an emergency meeting with the BRC and FDF, along with executives from Marks & Spencer, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Sainsbury’s and Unilever on the rollout of the EPR scheme.
However, this week those industry leaders wrote an open letter to Coffey calling for ministers to “take the time needed,” and work with industry to design an improved system, or risk a huge failure in creating a fully circular economy.
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It comes at the same time that environmental campaigners are urging the UK government and grocery retailers to do more to tackle plastic pollution in food supply chains.
The letter, seen by The Grocer, revealed that supermarkets and suppliers were unaware of key elements of the plan, including how local authorities will be held to account for spending the money raised by EPR.
It reads: “We had not understood with any clarity until last week’s meeting the sequencing your department is following in the rollout of EPR.
“We were reassured to be told that the regulations you plan to pass on consistent collections of household recycling will contain stretching statutory targets, incentives and penalties for local authorities on the volume and quality of the material streams.
“However, we believe these performance targets must be part of EPR from the outset – that is, from the point at which producers are obliged to pay significantly higher fees for packaging placed on the market, local authorities must be obliged to deliver value for money for those increased payments.
Signed by FDF CEO Karen Betts and BRC CEO Helen Dickinson, the letter goes on to say that despite EPR having been in the pipeline for years, industry leaders “do not understand” Defra’s overarching plans for the various regulations needed to implement it.
“We hope it was clear from our meeting how important it is for us to have visibility across the piece – that is, a clear view of all regulations and what they mean strategically for EPR.”
It concluded: “All in all, it seems to us far better to take the time needed now to deliver this once-in-a-generation opportunity for recycling reform than to risk establishing a scheme that does not deliver.”
