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Packaging: Recycling

Asked by Sarah PochinReform UKDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 26 June 2026UIN 11976

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of extended producer responsibility on levels of plastic packaging.

Answered by Mary Creagh

Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging is part of the Government’s broader Collection and Packaging Reforms, including Simpler Recycling and the Deposit Return Scheme.

From 2026/27 (Year 2) onwards, pEPR fees will be modulated to ensure that packaging materials that are less recyclable incur higher fees and packaging materials which are more recyclable incur lower fees, incentivising industry to transition towards more recyclable material.

The Department is monitoring implementation and impacts through the wider UK-wide elements of Collection and Packaging Reforms Evaluation programme. For example, the evaluation is monitoring data on tonnages of packaging placed on the market by material type, how much packaging waste is generated, the quantity of packaging waste that is recycled, and the quantity of plastic packaging that contains recycled content.

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