As announced at Budget 2018, from April 2022 the government will be introducing a new tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic.

In spring 2019, the government consulted on the high level design of the tax and a summary of responses was published in July. These responses are being used to inform the detailed design of the tax including the definition of packaging, which will be included in legislation that is due to be introduced next year. Where tobacco product packaging, cigarette filters, e-cigarettes and other vaping related products meet the definition of plastic packaging, and contain insufficient recycled plastic, they will be subject to the tax.

The government has made no specific assessment of the impact of litter caused by vaping. Litter specifically associated with vaping has never appeared in the top 20 litter types, according to independent national surveys carried out by Keep Britain Tidy.

As announced at Budget 2018, from April 2022 the government will be introducing a new tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic.

In spring 2019, the government consulted on the high level design of the tax and a summary of responses was published in July. These responses are being used to inform the detailed design of the tax including the definition of packaging, which will be included in legislation that is due to be introduced next year. Where tobacco product packaging, cigarette filters, e-cigarettes and other vaping related products meet the definition of plastic packaging, and contain insufficient recycled plastic, they will be subject to the tax.

The government has made no specific assessment of the impact of litter caused by vaping. Litter specifically associated with vaping has never appeared in the top 20 litter types, according to independent national surveys carried out by Keep Britain Tidy.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling plastic pollution and addressing the sustainability of the fashion industry, and our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how we will do this. The Government has not made an assessment of the environmental impact of introducing a 5p charge for plastic clothes hangers, however our reforms set out in the Strategy will help address the issues that they pose. When sold in conjunction with clothing, plastic clothes hangers are classified as packaging items, meaning that they are subject to the current producer responsibility system for packaging waste. This requires obligated businesses to acquire evidence to demonstrate that tonnages equivalent to their individual targets have been recovered and recycled each year. Earlier this year the Government consulted on proposals to reform the current packaging producer responsibility system and intends to bring forward its final proposals for consultation in 2020.

Tobacco packaging is covered by the current producer responsibility regulations, which require companies to recycle a proportion of the packaging waste they place on the market. They will also be subject to the forthcoming extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging which will cover the full net costs of managing packaging at its end of life, including litter, expected to be introduced in 2023.

In the Resources and Waste Strategy, we committed to looking into and consulting on extended producer responsibility for five new waste-streams by 2025, and consulting on two of these by 2022. We have currently identified our five priority waste-streams as: textiles, fishing gear, certain products in construction and demolition, bulky waste, and vehicle tyres. This list is not fixed and does not exclude the potential to review and consult on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for other waste streams if these are identified as being of equal or higher priority.

The EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive includes measures to implement an EPR scheme for tobacco products with filters, and filters marketed for use in combination with tobacco products, which should cover the costs of awareness raising, data gathering and litter clean-up of these products.

It is the Government’s ambition to use the opportunity of leaving the EU to refresh and renew our environmental policy. An assessment of the legislative work required to transpose the Single-Use Plastics Directive is currently being undertaken.

The Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) sets out our approach to reducing the use of single-use plastics. The Secretary of State met with major supermarket retailers on 25 September and discussed the impact of the reforms set out in the RWS, including a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers and reform of packaging waste regulations.

In April last year, the Waste and Resources Action Plan and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world-leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. This includes action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.

We consulted on our proposals to reform the UK packaging producer responsibility system earlier this year. Based on the feedback we received and the strong support from respondents for the principles and outcomes proposed, we intend to progress these policy proposals and introduce an extended producer responsibility scheme for packaging in 2023. As is the case for the current system, the reformed system will target all packaging materials, including plastic.

Defra, the Forestry Commission and other relevant UK plant health authorities have established a strong and trusted relationship with the wood packaging material (WPM) sector who understand what actions they will need to take to manage these new international standards for plant health, International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures No. 15 (ISPM15). Both the UK WPM industry body Timcon and the EU WPM industry body FEFPEB have released no deal statements to help their members and businesses which use WPM to prepare in the event of a no deal exit. Further, the WPM industry bodies are improving ISPM15 processes and increasing their supply of ISPM15 certified WPM in preparation for EU exit.

The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.

Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste

The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.

Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste

The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.

Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste

Tobacco regulations in England are enforced by local authorities through Trading Standards, this includes the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. The Department keeps track of enforcement and compliance through these regulations.