lifecycle of their products , have seen remarkable success in various countries . However , the UK faces unique challenges in adapting these systems to its context . Key concerns include the current government ’ s focus on fee collection over system efficiency and the critical role of producer leadership in driving sustainable packaging innovations .
“ I think EPR has worked really well overseas ,” he added . “ If you go to Canada or parts of the United States or Belgium , you see highfunctioning systems that have pushed up their recycling rates . Our concern in the UK is that the government has done a lot of thinking about how to invoice businesses for the fees and not a lot of thinking about building a system that creates circularity . We are pretty confident that there ’ ll be a system that invoices us for £ 1.7 billion a year and that will happen in the next couple of years . The challenge for the next government after the election is going to be driving investment , attracting investment into new technologies , consolidating existing recycling infrastructure , encouraging and enabling packaging innovation , and spending that money wisely .
“ It ’ s not good enough for us that we ’ ll pay extra money that ultimately pushes up food prices . It ’ s not good enough for us that we ’ ll spend all those extra billions , and nothing comes out of it at the other end . So , the challenge for us and the government is how to create an efficient system that
When there are costs involved at the level that we ’ re going to see with EPR - well into the billions - the incentive is there to create new types of packaging that will work .
creates that circularity . For us that involves taking the best of overseas schemes , which generally involve producer leadership , where producers are good at running EPR systems and that ’ s why we see double the UK ’ s recycling rates in places like Belgium . So , we want to inject a bit of producer leadership into the systems to make it happen . I think that will happen over the coming years , but the system that will be in place from next year will be more cash collection than waste collection and we need to shift it so there ’ s more waste collection going on and more recycling over the first five years of the scheme to make it work .
“ The cost is borne by us and so it ’ s in our interest as producers that we make a system that really works and that we don ’ t just accept the status quo . In England , we ’ ve got a 44 % recycling rate and that is not good enough when it comes to the cost that we ’ re about to start paying . Producers have an incentive to reduce the packaging they use , but also to build that system to get more recycled content into packaging in the future . And that means that we have a clear behavioural driver to make this work , so it ’ s critical that industry is at the heart of this .”
The landscape of packaging and recycling is poised for significant transformation , driven by the implementation of policies like EPR . By establishing clear regulations , EPR aims to foster an environment where producers are motivated to reduce plastic usage and overall packaging volume . This regulatory clarity is expected to spur innovation and attract investment capital , propelling the industry towards sustainable practices . According to Bligh , when new technologies are guided by well-defined frameworks , they generate substantial investment and momentum .
“ When there are costs involved at the level that we ’ re going to see with EPR - well into the billions - the incentive is there to create new types of packaging that will work ,” said Bligh . “ I think having clarity in the rules will create the space for us to innovate and to develop those new products . It ’ s going to require a considerable amount of capital but if we get this right , then there ’ ll be investment capital coming in that will enable real innovation quite quickly , which is what we ’ ve seen in other places .”
Over the next decade , we can expect a noticeable shift in the packaging of supermarket products . While the contents may remain unchanged , the packaging materials will likely be different , more sustainable , and designed to be more easily recyclable .
“ What we buy in the supermarket will look and feel different and be in different materials and hopefully then consumers will then recycle it in the right way as well ,” he added . “ There ’ s a big job of work for us all to do there to get people to think differently about the products they ’ re putting in their recycling bin . We need to make sure that we ’ re driving up those rates with the buy-in of citizens as well as the buy-in of manufacturers .
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