Packaging policy consultations delayed until 2021

We have received confirmation from DEFRA that the second round of packaging consultations for Extended Producer Responsibility, Deposit Return Scheme and Consistency in Collections have been delayed until 2021

Following the government’s response to the initial four consultations (read about this here), further consultations were expected in 2020, however, only a second one has been released for the Plastic Packaging Tax and due to the expected impact of COVID-19, the three remaining policy consultations have been delayed until 2021.

We understand that DEFRA are not planning to communicate this information publicly, but instead disperse through relevant stakeholder groups during upcoming meetings. However, we do have written confirmation from DEFRA that we are able to share this with our own members, partners and other stakeholders.

In response to this news, our Policy Leader Martin Hyde said:

“Whilst it is disappointing to see these key consultations pushed back to 2021, we understand the reasoning behind the delay, and remain committed to assisting as many of our members and partners as possible to proactively engage with DEFRA on regulatory change. This does however, make the schedule for consultation and policy development look increasingly tight as we head towards 2023 and the potential introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility. All in all, there is potential that the priority of the Resource and Waste Strategy actions are reconsidered.”

The Plastic Packaging Tax consultation which is currently underway will continue unchanged due to its deadline extension until the 20 August. You can access full consultation details and respond directly HERE. We are also gathering our members’ views to be anonymously incorporated into our scheme response, so if you would like to respond in this manner, please do contact us on consultation@complydirect.com