A report briefing the Committee on the elements on waste management of the Environment Act 2021and its impact on Reading Borough Council and Reading residents.

The Executive Director of Economic Growth and Neighbourhood Services submitted a report briefing the Committee on aspects of the Environment Act 2021 covering the elements on waste management and the Act’s impacts on Reading Borough Council and Reading residents.

The report explained that waste management element of the Environment was intended to promote and deliver: (a) extended producer responsibility, to include the costs for the treatment of packaging, (b) increased recycling, (c) the simplification and increased consistency of waste collection across the UK, (d) the development of a circular economy, and (e) the reduction of litter.

Extended Producer Responsibility meant that producers of packaging would have to pay the full net cost of collection and treatment associated with the packaging placed into circulation, to encourage better overall design of packaging and systems of capture, and to promote resource circularity.  Producers would pay modulated fees and the aggregated fees would be used to make payments to local authorities for the costs of managing packaging. Councils would be placed within a performance cohort, wherein their costs and their performance would be benchmarked against a ‘best in class’ council.  The arrangements would be quite different from current operating conditions, and would probably mirror more commercial operating conditions. The timescales were subject to change but local authorities were expecting to be presented with their initial funding allocation during the 2023/24 year.

The deposit return scheme would see a deposit being added to in-scope packaging, at the point of sale.  The deposit will be reclaimable via reverse vending machines at retailers and via smaller shops to encourage the return of the packaging.  The packing in the scheme would be limited to all polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic drinks bottles and tins/cans (aluminium and steel) for drinks between 50 ml and 3 litres.  The level of the deposit would be controlled by the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) and would be around £0.20 per item and would apparently be applied to all single, in-scope, items and also those sold as part of a multi-pack.

Under Waste Collection Consistency, Councils would be mandated to collect newspapers and magazines, cardboard, glass bottles, plastic bottles, plastic pots/tubs/trays and steel and aluminium cans or tins and a separate food waste collection would also be required.  Plastic film, aerosols, cartons and foil would be added to the list of mandated materials, probably in 2027.  At present, the re3 councils were well-placed to comply with the requirements of waste collection consistency although glass and plastic film collection and processing would need to be added to current services.  It was noted that the Government was also considering two options for garden waste collection: (a) a free scheme for residents or, (b) an assessed reasonable charge, based on estimates put together by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), and pitched at about 50% of current service charges.  If Government chose free garden waste collections there would be an estimated budget pressure of c£950k.

The report also set out the potential impacts and opportunities that would arise from the Act, including:

• It was likely that funding allocated to Councils would not meet the costs incurred in meeting the new requirements;
• Councils that were deemed not to be sufficiently Efficient or Effective could receive an Improvement Notice as only one council in each cohort could be ‘best in class’ and this could lead to reductions in funding if the required improvements were not achieved;
• The introduction of the deposit scheme could have implications for those residents who, through disability or age (or other non-protected characteristics), might find it challenging and/or inconvenient to access and utilise a reverse vending terminal and would therefore face increased costs;
• The removal of up to 90% of plastic and metal packaging from recycling collections was likely to prove challenging to many councils who had contractual obligations that related to waste composition, financial value or tonnage.  It should be anticipated that contractors may seek contractual relief and/or compensation through Change in Law (CiL) provisions.

Further reports would be submitted to the Committee incorporating proposals for service change to move towards a position of compliance in relation to both waste collection and the shared re3 arrangements.

Resolved -    Thatthe report be noted.