Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2020 - 14

opinion

The need to address
plastics is as strong as ever

It is tempting to think that when it comes to pre-Covid priorities, all bets
are off - but that would be a mistake, particularly on the issue of plastics
recycling - by Felix Gummer

he looming spectres of a Plastics Tax,
Extended Producer
Responsibility (EPR)
and a Deposit Return Scheme
(DRS) may feel like they are now
distant challenges, yet they remain present and critical - even
with the announcement in July
of a delay to the consultation
on reforming the UK packaging
producer responsibility system
until at least early 2021.
The EU's announcement that
it is to introduce a €800 a tonne
levy on plastic waste from January 2021 as part of the bloc's
€750 billion coronavirus recovery fund agreement is a surefire sign of what is to come here

in the UK. It is unclear at this
stage, with the UK having left
the EU and yet to agree a deal
what impact the introduction of
this levy will have here. We can,
however, be certain that this will
embolden the UK to use this issue to swell the coffers to pay
for Covid-19 recovery.
If we look at how we got here,
the drivers for change in government policies and business
commitments have far from
gone away. The environmental
imperatives and their graphic
depiction of plastics pollution
that led us to this point are
still uppermost in our thinking.
Indeed, the current crisis has
made the world much more

September/October 2020

conscious of humanity's impact
on the environment. That is why
climate change, loss of biodiversity and other damage to
the planet is often second only
to Covid updates in the news.
Lockdown and our relative inactivity have already been seen
to have a stark effect on nature.
Here in the UK, Government
will continue to feel the heat
as it will still be on the hook to
deliver on these issues. Firstly,
they still have the same looming deadlines and targets, particularly on plastics, set by the
EU and translated into British
law. They, having promised to
maintain these standards, and
even exceed them, will be de-

termined not to incur the inevitable reputational damage of
falling behind the EU. Secondly, the clock also continues to
tick on the deadline of the current Packaging Recovery Note
(PRN) system. Ultimately Ministers do not have the choice
of kicking the can further down
the road.
However, perhaps the most
important reason the UK government is unlikely to change
course is money. If cash were
sorely needed before the crisis,
it will be desperately needed
now. The plastics tax will be a
nice little earner and a green
tax to boot. Whatever the percentage of recycled content

Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - September/October 2020