The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs () (Con):...We will embark on our
target pathway by delivering on our commitments to implement the
collection and packaging reforms. These include introducing
consistent household and business recycling collections in
England, extended producer responsibility for packaging and
a Deposit
return scheme for drinks containers, for which we
announced the next steps last Friday. Such measures reduce the
pressure we place on our precious environment in what we extract,
manufacture and then treat as waste...
(LD):...So we need a
renewed focus; one hopes that these targets will provide that
because they need to. The Minister referred to the welcome
provisions in the Environment Act to encourage more uniform
collection via municipal authorities around the country. That is
an essential step if we are to make progress on consumer waste
but, over the past couple of years, we have not seen anything
near significant progress on extended producer responsibility. He
mentioned the fact that the Deposit
return scheme announcement was made on Friday, but
it will not happen until 2025 whereas it is coming into effect in
Scotland this year. Equally, it excludes glass...
(Lab):...The
waste reduction aimed for—a 50% reduction on 2019 levels—is not
aligned with either the scale of the problem or the potential to
reduce resource use, as well as minimising waste and increasing
recycling. A 50% reduction on 2019 levels is relatively
unambitious. The department does not have the strongest track
record in delivering the transition to a circular economy. I am
afraid that England has lagged behind other countries in the UK
in bringing new schemes on stream, as highlighted by the
significant delays to and the watering down of the
Government’s Deposit
return scheme. Scotland has its own scheme, which
will launch ahead of Defra’s, and Wales is set to launch its
scheme in October 2025. The Explanatory Memorandum notes the
Government’s resources and waste strategy, which aims to increase
municipal recycling rates to an overall level of 65% and lower
the volume of waste going to landfill...
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