From (name):

From (email):

To: DEFRA Ministers <helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk>

Subject

I am concerned about the excessive packaging produced by manufacturers and supermarkets in the UK. I am aware that there are legally binding EU directives on packaging which have been incorporated into British law, i.e. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations and Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003. Yet, I feel that this legislation could be strengthened, notably with regards to the enforcement of standards. I am writing to urge you to make improvements to the enforcement of the current legislation in the following areas: 1) Reform of the Courtauld Commitment and specific targets The commitment must be made legally binding rather than voluntary. This would mean there are specific targets which are legally binding, as opposed to the vague notions contained in the Producer (Essential Requirements) Regulations. A survey undertaken by Jo Swinson MP showed that the difficulty in defining what can be considered “excessive” made it hard for Trading Standard Officers to enforce the law. Specified targets would therefore be a step forward in this regard, giving simple pass/fail criteria. 2) Augmenting the power of Trading Standards Officers (TSOs) In 2006, the Rogers Review, which set the national enforcement priorities for local regulatory services, stated that policing excess packaging was a “non-priority”. Central government must encourage the TSOs to enforce the EU legislation on packaging by giving them the resources to do so. 3) Creating a new national body on packaging A new national body on packaging could work with Trading Standards to tackle large-scale producers of excess packaging and offer a more coordinated, systematic approach to the problem. A national packaging body could put more emphasis on pro-active packaging enforcement, unlike the reactive approach of Trading Standards who tend to act only on specific complaints from the public. 4) Placing responsibilities on supermarkets to tackle the problem In order to give supermarkets an incentive to cut down on packaging, there must be compulsory measures such as: - Requiring supermarkets to charge a small deposit for a new plastic bag, to encourage re-use - Requiring supermarkets to implement waste collection points in their stores where shoppers could leave any packaging they did not want to take home with them. I urge you to take the above suggestions into account and seriously consider making changes to the enforcement of existing EU Directives on packaging. Please write to me to let me know what the Government’s plans are with regards to these issues. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours faithfully,