Food firms warn government plan to make them pay for litter picking and waste disposal will increase household meal bills by £125 a year
- Ministers are consulting on the plan to reduce litter and increase recycling
- Firms would have to pay for cost of disposing the packaging they produce
- Food and Drink Federation claimed the move could hit families in the pocket
Food firms today criticised a new government initiative to make them pay for litter picking and waste disposal – claiming it would increase household meal bills by £125 a year.
Under plans currently under consolation, businesses would have to calculate the total amount of packaging they have produced, and then pay the corresponding cost of dumping or recycling it.
Ministers hope the move will cut landfill race and persuade the food industry to use less packaging – but the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) claimed it could hit families in the pocket.
Under plans currently under consolation, businesses would have to calculate the total amount of packaging they have produced, and then pay the corresponding cost of dumping or recycling it. File photo
In a formal consultation response seen by the Financial Times, FDF environment policy manager David Bellamy said the plans would ‘result in a massive cost shock to consumers in the form of higher food prices’.
The government wants to introduce so-called extended producer responsibility from 2023. Similar schemes are already used worldwide and have been praised by environmental groups.
The FDF – which represents multinationals including Mars, Unilever as well as a raft of smaller businesses – predicted the proposal would land firms with £2.7billion of extra annual costs.
It claimed that when added to the cost of a new plastic packaging tax and deposit return scheme it would push up household food and drink bills by £125 a year.
Firms that produce and use packaging in the UK are already required to contribute to recycling and recovery costs, but the new plans significantly expand the costs that UK companies will have to cover.
Recent surveys have put McDonald’s and Coca Cola among the worst offenders for producing litter
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: ‘Our EPR proposals will make businesses take greater responsibility for the packaging they place on the market. This will encourage firms to think carefully about how much packaging they use, how it can be made more easily recyclable, as well as using reusable and refillable options.’
Nicki Hunt, a director at the FDF, said: ‘We don’t disagree that the industry needs to do more. This has been on our radar for a long time.’
Today Priti Patel vowed to use groups of offenders to help clear up litter as part of an expanded outdoor community service scheme.
Public outcry over the amount of litter being strewn across Britain increased as people flocked outdoors during the end of lockdown, and more recently after fans trashed central London during Euro 2020.
Packets of gum produced by Wrigley – owned by food giant Mars – were also among the most commonly littered items, Keep Britain Tidy found
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