The next step

Circular Economy Package policy statement

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UK to adopt EU’s circular economy laws

Following the EU’s lead

The Circular Economy Package (CEP) is the EU’s proposed list of legislation that will help move each country towards a more circular economy, reducing waste, improving recycling and making companies more resource efficient. Since Brexit, the UK has been undecided as to whether it will adopt the same sort of laws as the rest of Europe. But now it has been decided that the UK version of the CEP will be almost exactly the same, including a commitment to achieving a 65% recycling rate by 2035. The government has said that using most of the CEP and turning it into UK law will build on its commitment to become a global leader in environmental law as shown by the policy promises outlined in the 25-Year Environment Plan and the Resources and Waste Strategy. The government will use the proposed Environment Bill to include a range of new measures to bring the CEP to life and “transform our waste industry” , as Environment Minister Rebecca Pow puts it.

Impact?

Successive environment secretaries have refused to rule out diverging from EU laws, and there was a concern that the transposition could be delayed until after the Brexit transition period which runs until 31 December 2020.

The UK, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish governments have put forward a joint policy statement outlining how they plan to transpose the amended Waste Framework Directive, Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive and Landfill of Waste Directive into UK law (see The next step ).

Note. Because most of the changes required to transpose the EU legislation are small and technical or need to adopt the same wording as EU law, there will be no formal consultation process.

Get ready

The CEP target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035, which will become UK law, relates to business because it encompasses not only household waste but also commercial waste that is similar in composition. The most likely way for the UK to achieve this new goal is through extended producer responsibility (EPR).

EPR will ensure that your business, as a producer, bears some or all of the responsibility for the environmental impacts that those products or packaging create. Under a new EPR regime, producers will have to pay the full net end-of-life costs for their products, and it’s likely there will be variable fees. The more circular the design, i.e. easy to disassemble or recycle, the lower the compliance fee you will have to pay.

Businesses could also be mandated to include better labels on products to indicate whether they are recyclable or not.

Tip. EPR is not happening any time soon. However, packaging will be the first waste stream to be brought within EPR, with new legislation coming into force by 2023. Formal second stage consultations on EPR for packaging will take place in early 2021 after a delay caused by coronavirus. Keep an eye out on the consultations for more details. Essentially, revised laws are likely to make it more expensive to use non-recyclable packaging.

For a link to CEP policy statement, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 15, issue 4.