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Call to tax disposable packaging | Call to tax disposable packaging |
(1 day later) | |
The government is being urged to tax hard-to-recycle and disposable products in a bid to cut the amount of waste produced by manufacturers. | The government is being urged to tax hard-to-recycle and disposable products in a bid to cut the amount of waste produced by manufacturers. |
A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Green Alliance says items such as throw-away cameras and disposable razors should be taxed. | A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Green Alliance says items such as throw-away cameras and disposable razors should be taxed. |
It comes ahead of the government's pre-Budget report and Waste Strategy. | It comes ahead of the government's pre-Budget report and Waste Strategy. |
Earlier this week environment minister Ben Bradshaw pressured supermarkets to cut down on packaging. | Earlier this week environment minister Ben Bradshaw pressured supermarkets to cut down on packaging. |
'Pay-as-you-throw' | |
The report said taxing items such as drink cartons that are not easily recyclable would help reduce the levels of waste. | The report said taxing items such as drink cartons that are not easily recyclable would help reduce the levels of waste. |
Currently four billion of these cartons are used in the UK each year but less than 10% of them are recycled. | |
It is time manufacturers were made to take full responsibility for the life cycle of their products Paul Bettison | |
But in countries such as Germany, where there is a 1.5% charge on cartons to help pay for collection and recycling, more than 65% of cartons are recycled. | But in countries such as Germany, where there is a 1.5% charge on cartons to help pay for collection and recycling, more than 65% of cartons are recycled. |
Nick Pearce, IPPR director, said it was up to businesses to take "greater responsibility for the whole life of products, by paying a product tax that goes towards payment for disposal". | |
He said this would only be fair if a "pay-as-you-throw" system of charges for collecting household rubbish was introduced - a system which the IPPR called for earlier this year. | |
Paul Bettison, chairman of the Local Government Association's Environment Board, said that unless there was a "radical overhaul" of the way rubbish was dealt with, the environment would continue to suffer and council tax bills would rise. | |
"The government should ensure that it is the polluter and not people that pay," he said. | "The government should ensure that it is the polluter and not people that pay," he said. |
'Infrastructure problem' | |
A Treasury spokesman said taxes were already being used to discourage unenvironmental behaviour. | A Treasury spokesman said taxes were already being used to discourage unenvironmental behaviour. |
"The landfill tax has helped reduce volume of waste going to landfill by 28% since 1997 and has helped to fund local community projects," he said. | "The landfill tax has helped reduce volume of waste going to landfill by 28% since 1997 and has helped to fund local community projects," he said. |
Manufacturer Tetra Pak said the drink carton industry was taking a lead by investing to boost carton collection and reprocessing in the UK. | |
"Cartons can be recycled; what has so far been largely absent in this country is the infrastructure to enable collection," environment manager Richard Hands said. | |
The firm added: "The report does seem to concentrate on end-of-life rather than the wider picture of resource-efficiency, energy consumption and transport throughout a product's entire life cycle." |
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