New U.K. Packaging Rules Risk ‘Double Penalty’ For Hospitality
The disposal of thousands of tonnes of packaging will be unfairly paid for twice by businesses, due to ill-thought through and complex Extended Producer Responsibility rules.
The disposal of thousands of tonnes of packaging will be unfairly paid for twice by businesses, due to ill-thought through and complex Extended Producer Responsibility rules.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) intends to hold relevant businesses responsible for the end-of-life consequences of packaging ending up in household waste streams.
However, in many hospitality businesses, packaging deemed as household waste will actually never make it out of a venue and will be disposed of commercially. This means firms will be paying both a commercial waste fee and incurring an EPR charge.
Defra’s policy intends to have a single point of compliance for packaging and the ‘double counting’ of charges contradicts this intention.
In a letter to Steve Reed, the Defra Secretary of State, UKHospitality is calling for:
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The introduction of a clear and simple route for demonstrating packaging is non-household, and therefore exempt from EPR charges. For example, beer or wine bottles sold to customers for consumption on premise but then collected and disposed of commercially.
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The supply chain to be allowed to calculate the proportion of packaging provided to hospitality customers.
Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: “At a time when hospitality businesses are facing rising costs in almost every area of their business, a double penalty of being incorrectly levied a EPR fee and paying for commercial waste disposal is the last thing the sector needs.
“We understand that tracking packaging is complex, but there needs to be a clear and simple route for both wholesalers and hospitality businesses to demonstrate when packaging is non-household.
“It’s unfair to expect hospitality businesses to pick up the bill twice, just because an issue is complicated.
“Empowering the supply chain to help provide data-driven solutions, as part of a simpler, clearer process, would be a sensible way to avoid double-charging, something Defra has acknowledged it wants to avoid.”
