Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of packaging regulation costs on manufacturers’ ability to invest in more sustainable and recyclable packaging.
Answer
The October 2024 Impact Assessment considered the costs, benefits and impacts of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. Fee modulation provides a financial incentive for producers to reduce unnecessary packaging and use packaging that is easier to recycle.
Verdict: AMBER (30/100)
The reply only partly answers the question. It points to the October 2024 Impact Assessment as having considered the costs of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging, but it does not give the Department's own view on whether those costs affect manufacturers' ability to invest. The other part of the reply, on fee modulation as an incentive to make packaging more recyclable, does not address investment at all. The person who asked would most likely need to ask again for a direct answer on investment.
How we got there
| Question item | Coverage | Specificity | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is the Department's assessment or view of the potential impact of packaging regulation costs on manufacturers' ability to invest in more sustainable and recyclable packaging? | Partially Addressed | Direct | Statement 1 points to the October 2024 Impact Assessment as having considered the costs and impacts of EPR for packaging, which addresses the 'assessment' part of the question. Statement 2 describes fee modulation as an incentive to make packaging more recyclable, which relates to sustainable packaging but says nothing about the effect of regulatory costs on manufacturers' ability to invest. Neither statement states the Department's own view of that investment impact, so the item is only partly answered. |