Time is needed to create a world-beating, producer-led EPR

Collation shrink film is used for the food and beverage market.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) – the UK trade body representing food and drinks manufacturers – has called for a world-beating, producer-led Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy in the UK. Our Brand Director Zoe Brimelow explains the benefits of postponing the October 2025 roll out of EPR to allow more time to evaluate the effectiveness of recent policy changes and ongoing programmes. Plus how creating the opportunity to invest in the infrastructure needed to improve packaging recycling, including collation shrink film recycling processes.

Take stock of the Plastic Packaging Tax

In its recently published 2024 manifesto, ‘Powering our nation into the next decade’, the FDF states that the Government should ring-fence EPR fees to ensure local authorities use the additional funding to improve the UK’s recycling infrastructure. This is a good, practical idea and also a reminder about the utilisation of new revenue streams generated by sustainability-related regulations.

The Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) was introduced in April 2022 and HMRC reported that it raised £276 million in its first year. Aside from costs of £42 million to set up, staff and deliver the tax in year one, it’s not clear how the rest of the PPT revenues are being used. Investing funds in developing the closed-loop recycling infrastructure and processes the UK could improve recycling of post-consumer packaging waste, such as collation shrink film, and help local authorities to get a head start on developing recycling services, rather than waiting for the introduction of EPR fees.

The UK Government is drawing up an evaluation plan for the PPT. It seems logical to take learnings from this evaluation to help inform the development of EPR. The Plastic Packaging Tax marked a milestone change for UK manufacturers, and although food-contact plastic packaging is exempt, it is the closest regulatory change we have to EPR. It’s important to look at how the tax has impacted businesses, usage of recycled plastic in packaging and to also consider this in the broader context of recycling rates of all different packaging materials, including collation shrink film.

These types of large scale legislative changes have massive impacts on supply chains and significantly affect staffing, capital investment, innovation, sourcing and material usage.

Shrink film for bottle packaging supplier attains BRCGS Standard

Give simpler recycling a chance

This initiative aims to increase, improve and standardise recycling and waste collections by local authorities by the end of March 2026. The reforms also include the collection of plastic film as part of plastic waste streams, with a slightly longer deadline for this element of March 2027.

Simpler Recycling has the potential to mark a significant step change in reducing post-consumer packaging waste by making it easier and more convenient for end users to recycle.

The Simpler Recycling reforms could promote greater, shared responsibility amongst all parties (producers and users of packaging) to tackle post-consumer waste, effectively reshaping what is required of EPR. It’s likely that the outcomes of Simpler Recycling will impact the costs incurred by local authorities for collecting, handling and recycling packaging waste, with these altering over the course of the next two – three years.

Creating a producer-led EPR is absolutely the way forward and will prove valuable in arriving at a practical policy that affects positive change. Achieving this will require proper consideration of the many different efforts being made by businesses, consumers and Government to reduce post-consumer waste and improve recycling rates, otherwise the EPR could end up proving a burden that comes at a cost to packaging innovation that is driving resourcefulness and circularity.

If you’re in the FMCG market and looking for a recycling partner to recycled post-consumer collation shrink film or a new alternative to your current collation shrink film, such as Oceanix Collation Shrink Film contact our team enquiries@duo-uk.co.uk or +440161 203 5767.

As featured in Eco-Plastics in Packaging Print Edition, May 2024.