Ministers have said it is better to offer voluntary discounts to customers who bring in re-usable coffee cups, instead of a so called “latte-levy”, at least for the time being.
In a response issued on Monday, March 5, but released by the Environmental Audit Committee this morning, ministers expressed doubt over whether such a scheme could work and stepped away from any mandatory form of producer responsibility for the cups. But, the Defra ministers emphasised that they are looking at reviewing the producer responsibility system for packaging and other areas.
Ministers praised coffee retail chains for “taking action” to reduce single-use coffee cups, including offering discounts to customers using reusable cups. And, the response added that the government will look at incentives to change producers’ behaviour too.
Hubbub coordinated a month long coffee cup recycling campaign in the City of London
“Major coffee cup manufacturers and retailers are already captured by the packaging waste regulations that require them to pay towards the recycling of the products they place on the market,” the response said.
It added: “We have committed to reforming our producer responsibility systems, including the packaging waste regulations, to incentivise producers to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products. This will look at all aspects of the regime.”
The response said that the government feel these potential incentives would all work towards the same overall outcomes of increasing recycling and reducing litter as a 25p charge would.
However, in a separate response published today, Defra has denied that the government has completely ruled out introducing such a charge, saying that the Government is still “considering options” on the issue.
A government spokesperson said: “Industry has a crucial role to play in making more products recyclable and we are working with them to reform our packaging waste regulations so producers are incentivised to take greater responsibility for the environmental impact of their products. But it is wrong to say government is not taking decisive action.” [Updated 09/03/18 at 14:30]
Criticism
The initial response came after the Environment Committee issued a report, ‘Disposable Packaging: Coffee Cups’, in January 2018, which called for a tax to be introduced and the the funds generated to go towards improving recycling and reprocessing facilities for coffee cups.
Defra issued a response at the time saying it would “carefully consider” the proposals. However, signalling that it may favour a voluntary producer responsibility response, it said in January it was encouraged by industry’s work on recycling the cups.
Commenting on this week’s response, the committee’s chair and Labour MP Mary Creagh criticised the government, explaining that coffee cups are the “perfect example” of how the UK’s producer responsibility system has led to “poor packaging recycling”.
Mrs Creagh said: “The Government needs to push businesses to develop more sustainable packaging, or face higher fees. The current system does not work for coffee cups, and so the Committee has asked the NAO to specifically report on the effectiveness of the PRN system.”
She added that the Government’s response “shows that despite warm words they plan no real action.”
Revenues
Coffee chains, such as Starbucks, are assessing ways to implement measures linked to voluntary producer responsibility
When discussing the committee’s proposals to invest any funds generated into the infrastructure needed to recycle coffee cups, including more specified bins, the response said this approach would “fundamentally undermine” the purpose behind producer responsibility regimes which enshrine the ‘polluter pays’ principle.
“The Government does believe that importers, manufacturers and retailers of packaging should contribute to collection and disposal costs of their products. However, the system has to be fair and transparent to all. The Committee’s suggestion that coffee cup manufacturers should finance the necessary collection and disposal infrastructure for other packaging products for which they are not responsible goes against this principle and would, in effect, allow for ‘free-riders’ on the system,” the response said.
Mrs Creagh concluded the statement by saying that she expects to see challenging recycling targets for coffee cups in the upcoming Resources and Waste Strategy.
Review
The response, which was effectively from Defra ministers, noted that during the inquiry, Chris Preston (deputy director of waste and recycling policy at Defra) “pointed out that the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy has committed us to review the current producer responsibility regimes across a range of areas. We recognise the need to stimulate markets for secondary materials and we will look at the whole system from end to end to make sure that it is working effectively through a range of push and pull factors. For example, we will look at potential measures such as incentivising producers to use a greater degree of recycled material in their products and how that might drive demand for that material, plus increase the collection, reprocessing and recycling of it to encourage a circular approach to the system.”
At the time of the release of the report, several groups such as the Resource Association and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health welcomed the publication.
Friends of the Earth
Commenting on the government response, Friends of the Earth plastic-free campaigner Julian Kirby said: “Government commitment to tackling coffee cup waste appears to be all froth and little substance. With mounting public concern about the impact of plastic pollution on our wildlife and environment, ministers should be taking firm action to tackle this crisis – including the introduction of a latte levy.”
Mr Kirby added: “This response will also undermine government pledges to champion the environment – a far bolder and more urgent approach is needed if we are going to tackle the crisis we face.”
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