Recycling plan for packaging firms to meet 100pc of cost

PACKAGING manufacturers could be forced to fund 100 per cent of the cost of recycling of household waste under proposals set to be laid out by Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary.

It is understood that the highly anticipated resource and waste review will float a range of options to reform the UK’S broken recycling system, including a radical plan to force manufacturers to fund up to 100 per cent of UK households’ recycling.

At present, they foot around 10 per cent of the total bill through a coupon system, with local councils using constituents’ council tax payments to fund the remaining 90 per cent.

If taken forward, the option would give councils a collective boost of up to £1 billion, industry sources said. They would then be expected to spend the extra money, around £20 per household, on improving recycling facilities.

It is also thought that council bosses could be made to revamp recycling systems to meet a new national minimum standard, in a bid to end the recycling chaos caused by a lack of uniformity across the UK.

Industry sources said they had been contacted by Government aides who were attempting to establish at what level taxes should be levied to manufacturers using different types of packaging materials.

The system, in which manufacturers get refunds if their packaging is successfully recycled, is designed to discourage manufacturers from using non-recyclable materials in packaging.