The UK Government has unveiled a new resources and waste strategy, under which businesses and manufacturers need to pay the full cost of recycling or disposing of their packaging waste.
Image: Environment Secretary Michael Gove visited Veolia's centre in Southwark to launch the Resources and Waste Strategy. Photo: courtesy of Crown copyright.
The new strategy has been designed to eliminate avoidable plastic waste and protect the environment from harmful effects.
As part of the new strategy, producers are required to focus more on hard-to-recycle items such as cars, electrical goods and batteries.
The government is also planning to simplify the existing complicated recycling system for consistent approach of householders to recycling across England.
UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove has announced the new strategy at Veolia’s recycling center in London, which is claimed to be one of the most advanced sorting facilities in Europe.
Gove said: “Our strategy sets out how we will go further and faster, to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Together we can move away from being a ‘throw-away’ society, to one that looks at waste as a valuable resource.
“We will cut our reliance on single-use plastics, end confusion over household recycling, tackle the problem of packaging by making polluters pay, and end the economic, environmental and moral scandal that is food waste.”
The government intends to launch consistent set of recyclable material for collection to further enhance recycling levels.
The industry will provide funding through extended producer responsibility (EPR), which focuses on industry to develop sustainable design and pay higher fees based on their products that are harder to reuse and repair or recycle.
The EPR for packaging is planning to gather between £0.5bn and £1bn per annum for recycling and disposal.
Under new strategy, the government will focus on producers to pay full net costs for disposal or recycling of packaging they place on the market.
The government will also review producer responsibility schemes for items that are harder or costly to recycle, including textiles, fishing gear, vehicle tyres, certain materials from construction and demolition, and textiles, fishing gear, vehicle tyres, certain materials from construction and demolition, and bulky waste such as mattresses, furniture and carpets.
The strategy also includes various other measures such as consistent labeling on packaging, deposit return scheme, mandatory guarantees and extended warranties on products and introduction of mandatory targets for food waste prevention.