The UK Government’s final base fees for its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme have been criticised by the British glass sector.
The EPR Scheme Administrator PackUK has published the final base fees for year 1 (2025 to 2026) of the EPR for packaging scheme.
The fees will go to local authorities to help them cover the cost of recycling and disposing waste packaging materials. A portion of the fees will also be used to cover PackUK’s operating costs.
Table: EPR for packaging base fees for 2025 to 2026 for all packaging materials.
Material | Rate (in £ per tonne) |
Aluminium | 266 |
Fibre-based composite | 461 |
Glass | 192 |
Paper and card | 196 |
Plastic | 423 |
Steel | 259 |
Wood | 280 |
Other | 259 |
A joint statement by the British Beer and Pub Association, British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation, Scotch Whisky Association, WineGB, Wine and Spirit Trade Association, and UK Hospitality said the fees for glass were ‘disproportionately high’ and the government had not listened to the ‘concerns of businesses’.
“The current EPR design does not meaningfully support the delivery of a circular economy, and adds a significant additional cost to businesses who use glass,” the statement reads.
“There is a risk that without action from the UK Government to reduce these fees and move to meaningfully support businesses rather than restrict them, the scheme will result in producers switching to less sustainable materials and that many producers will be charged twice – further restricting investment into the economy.”
British Glass warned that changes to the fees do not go far enough to ensure producers choose recyclable glass over less circular alternatives.
British Glass Director Nick Kirk said: “This small reduction in the base fees does very little to ease the industry’s concerns around the disparity in unit costs between competing packaging formats. The fees still favour lighter, less recyclable packaging.”
The base fees are based on the final modelled scenario for the total local authority disposal costs that should be recovered through EPR for packaging between 2025 and 2026.
Commenting on the base fees announcement, John Redmayne, Managing Director of the EPR compliance scheme, ERP UK, said the base fees give producers clarity on the costs to them.
“ From talking to our clients and other large producer companies, they are well prepared to meet the updated costs and meet the demands of the last step of this new process,” Redmayne said.
The post Final EPR base fees criticised by UK glass sector appeared first on Circular Online.
