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Proposal 2: Packaging
Proposal
To encourage waste prevention by giving powers to the Scottish Government to make regulations on packaging which would set statutory targets on retailers for packaging reductions.
Background
Packaging is generally a devolved matter but action up until now has generally been taken on either a United Kingdom wide basis. For example, there are already producer responsibility regulations on packaging, which require those who put packaging on the market to recycle and recover proportions of it. These regulations implement EU requirements. For Scotland, these regulations have led to the recovery of around 600,000 tonnes of packaging a year.
There is also a programme of work at UK level to encourage retailers to reduce packaging on a voluntary basis. Specifically, the Waste and Resources Action Programme ( WRAP) have entered into a Courtauld Commitment with retailers ( www.wrap.org.uk/retail/courtauld_commitment/index.html). Participating retailers are committed to:
- design out packaging waste growth by 2008;
- deliver absolute reductions in packaging waste by 2010; and
- identify ways to tackle the problem of food waste.
This area of work is a devolved matter but is carried out by agreement on a UK basis.
Within Scotland, Waste Aware Scotland are carrying out work to provide better information to the public on the nature of packaging and how to complain effectively about excess packaging.
Although packaging is generally a devolved matter, there are one set of regulations on packaging which are a reserved matter for the UK Government. These regulations lay down essential requirements in relation to packaging, including provisions on excess packaging. Again, these regulations implement EU requirements. These regulations are largely seen as ineffective in addressing unnecessary packaging because of the difficulty of demonstrating proof (there have only been four prosecutions under them across the UK, and none of them in Scotland).
There are also criticisms of the producer responsibility regulations. These criticisms relate to two specific areas. Firstly that firms have been able to meet their obligations by concentrating on "back of store" packaging waste (i.e. business to business packaging) rather than "front of store" waste, where the resulting cost for treatment is, in effect, borne by local authorities as part of their waste management responsibilities. Secondly, it is claimed that obligations under the regulations in relation to recovery and recycling of a specified percentage of packaging waste do not, in practice, act as an incentive to reduce waste by designing out unnecessary packaging. However, we have recently introduced (with the UK Government and the other Devolved Administrations) increases in the recovery and recycling obligations and this may help to address these criticisms.
Some packaging is required to ensure that goods reach consumers in a safe and hygienic way and to ensure that key information is provided to the consumer. Many consumers consider that this can be excessive, particularly for certain products such as, for example, Easter eggs and certain types of electronic equipment
How the proposal would work
Power would be taken to make further regulations on packaging. These regulations could:
- Set statutory targets (impacting on retailers) on packaging reduction.
- Require retailers to provide information on the amount of packaging on goods being sold to consumers.
- Deal with enforcement (by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency or local authorities); record keeping by retailers and their supply chains; potential penalties or civil sanctions for non-compliance.
Alternatives
The alternative would be to continue with the existing work on packaging, as outlined above.
Questions
Consultees are asked:
1. Do you consider that legislation should be made in this area?
2. If so, what form should that legislation take?
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