Options for Extended Producer Responsibility in Wales Final Report for the Welsh Government Dr Chris Sherrington Mark Hilton Ayesha Bapasola Olly Jamieson Jade Kelly April 2018 Report for Welsh Government Prepared by Mark Hilton, Ayesha Bapasola, Olly Jamieson and Jade Kelly Approved by …………………………………………………. Dr Chris Sherrington (Project Director) Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd Tel: +44 (0)117 9172250 37 Queen Square Fax: +44 (0)8717 142942 Bristol Web: www.eunomia.co.uk BS1 4QS United Kingdom Disclaimer Eunomia Research & Consulting has taken due care in the preparation of this report to ensure that all facts and analysis presented are as accurate as possible within the scope of the project. However no guarantee is provided in respect of the information presented, and Eunomia Research & Consulting is not responsible for decisions or actions taken on the basis of the content of this report. Executive Summary Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd (Eunomia) was commissioned by the Welsh Government to identify options, in line with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principles, to tackle a number of issues associated with key food and drink (F&D) packaging. This work will feed into the development of a wider EPR approach in Wales, in line with the revisions to Article 8(a) of the Waste Framework Directive.1 Accordingly, such approaches should seek to achieve full net cost recovery, but dropping to 80% in some circumstances. Such a rebalancing of costs away from citizens/taxpayers towards consumers/producers would be entirely in line with the Welsh Government’s programme for Wales, Taking Wales Forward, with its emphasis on a stronger and fairer economy. In addition, the Welsh Government has sought further understanding of the potential scope for an EPR approach that: reduces the amount of waste and increases reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycling, to the maximum practicable extent This is an ambitious objective, recognising a need to drive improvements and innovation in Wales that have real potential, and yet, are far from being fully realised in EPR schemes across the globe.2 Indeed, in terms of waste prevention, as far as the target food and drink packaging types are concerned, it is far from clear that EPR on its own can deliver this objective (with the exception of stimulating lightweighting). While modulated fees can incentivise design for recyclability, and the incorporation of recycled content, to bring about significant waste prevention, in terms of a reduction in the number of items consumed, other measures are required, such as taxes or charges. It’s worth noting that the Welsh Government is not, in this project, looking to explore comprehensive EPR across all packaging types. The study does not therefore consider in detail how EPR for packaging might be reformed in Wales. Instead, the focus is on identifying specific measures that can be applied to particular types of packaging, which can bring about waste prevention, litter prevention, and/or increase recycling, in ways that are consistent with EPR principles. 1 Council of the European Union (2018) Interinstitutional File: 2015/0275 (COD), Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste, available at http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-6516-2018-INIT/en/pdf 2 OECD (2016), Extended Producer Responsibility: Updated Guidance for Efficient Waste Management, OECD Publishing, Paris, 2016. Accessible at http://www.oecd.org/env/extended-producer-responsibility- 9789264256385-en.htm Welsh Government – EPR Options i It’s also important to acknowledge the wider context, of ongoing discussions regarding shortcomings in the way in which producer responsibility for packaging is currently discharged in the UK, and the likelihood of, at least, a modification, if not a more wholesale revision, of the system of producer responsibility in the relatively near term. Indeed, any requirement to approximate to the text of the Waste Framework Directive’s Article 8a, recognising that the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive remains a ‘Single Market’ Directive, would require a fundamental shift in the distribution of costs under the UK’s scheme. In this context, it is important to understand that while there is a jointly agreed approach to the Packaging Regulations across the four countries in the UK, the Welsh Government does have powers to have a separate approach, as long as the minimum requirements of the Packaging Directive are met.3 E.1.0 Approach As a first step, a shortlist of six food and drink packaging types was drawn up in order to focus the research. The shortlist was based on the following criteria: Low current rate of recycling (due to either inability to be recycled, or low levels of capture, currently, for recycling, or both); Prevalence in the Welsh litter stream; Availability of suitable alternatives; and Levels of political and public concern. The scope and definition of the shortlisted packaging types were then refined following input from the Welsh Government’s project officers, with the following six F&D packaging types being chosen for further study: 3 Welsh Ministers have full devolved powers for producer responsibility under the provisions in Sections 93 and 94 of the Environment Act 1995, and through direct implementation of EU producer responsibility legislation through a designation under Section 2.2 of the European Communities Act (ECA). It is the devolved administrations’ choice that there are UK schemes. Policy and legislation are developed jointly with the four administrations through choice. Wales has devolved policy responsibility for developing its own legislative approach, should Welsh Government wish to do so. On taxation, the Welsh Government can make proposals for a new environmental tax that then have to be approved by both Houses of Parliament and by the UK Government. Once the EU CE Package, including amendments to, inter alia, the Waste Framework Directive, are in force in EU law, Wales will have the ability under Section 2.2 of the ECA to directly implement them via regulations in Wales. It was the choice of the Welsh Government that the current version of the EU Waste Framework Directive was implemented through joint England and Wales regulations (The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 (as amended)). Wales could have had separate regulations. It is the same with the Producer Responsibility Directives – through choice Wales agreed to joint UK regulations. If desired, Welsh Government could extricate itself and have its own separate Wales-only regulations. ii 18/04/2018 1) Beverage containers – plastic bottles, cans, glass, laminated pouches and cartons; 2) Single use cups and lids – paper, plastic and polystyrene filled at point of sale (including straws provided with them); 3) Takeaway food packaging – polystyrene, card, foil and plastic filled at point of sale; 4) Single portion sachets and pots – single use packaging for ready-to-consume condiments, mini pots etc.; 5) Black plastic food containers (often used to package meat and ready meals in supermarkets); and 6) Metallised film for crisps and confectionery. As a second step, a longlist and then a shortlist of policy options was drawn up, based on expert consideration of the relative merits and shortcomings of each option, comprising both desk-based assessment and discussion with key stakeholders. The stakeholder engagement, which encompassed a wide range of relevant parties included packaging producers, retailers, regulators, and civil society representatives, involved one-to-one telephone discussions with individuals, as well as three stakeholder workshops held in Cardiff in November 2017. The input of stakeholders at the workshops was used to refine the final selection of options, and to inform the consideration of impacts. An assessment was then made, for each of the specific policy options, as relevant, as to following: Waste prevention and litter prevention effects; Effect on recycling rates; The extent to which relevant costs are shifted from citizens/taxpayers to consumers/producers, in line with EPR (and polluter / consumer pays) principles; and Any possible negative impacts on specific groups of stakeholders and how these might be minimised, including for example consideration of the way in which specific policy options might be implemented. The following sections of this Executive Summary are laid out as follows: E.2.0 briefly reflects upon the importance of litter in respect of food and drink packaging and the potential for a deposit return scheme (DRS) for beverage container to significantly reduce litter levels; and o E.2.1 considers the associated potential for a DRS to also boost beverage container recycling in Wales E.3.0 reports on the current situation in respect of waste generation and management for each of the food and drink packaging types in Wales; E.4.0 presents key findings; and E.5.0 presents key recommendations. Welsh Government – EPR Options iii E.2.0 The Importance of Litter For the food and drink packaging types considered in this study, with the exception of beverage containers, the actual tonnages of waste produced account for a very small proportion of municipal waste in Wales. However, when packaging items are littered, the negative impacts that arise are disproportionately high relative to their weight. While there is much current public concern about the issue of plastics in the marine environment, it is the ‘everyday’ litter that Welsh citizens experience, in cities, towns, and the countryside that is arguably the most significant, and immediate of the negative impacts. Indeed, according to Keep Wales Tidy, littering is always in the top three issues highlighted to councillors and officials. Economists express the unhappiness that people feel about seeing a littered local environment in terms of it being a ‘visual disamenity’, and use non-market valuation approaches, in line with those recommended in HM Treasury’s ‘Green Book’ to seek to place a monetary value on this disamenity.4 Such a value effectively calculates how much citizens would be willing to pay for a local environment that is less littered, or indeed entirely without litter.