OPINION: No time to waste for new sustainability schemes

Despite the race to reach net zero goals in 2030 and 2050, the UK has been slamming the brakes on several promising sustainability initiatives.

Ministers recently delayed a £1.7bn a year recycling scheme that would have seen packaging producers pay towards the recycling of their products.

And unfortunately, that’s not the only scheme that’s been delayed.

Nationwide domestic food waste collections were supposed to be up and running this year, but have also been put off while more data is collected.

There’s even been a long delay on an easier domestic recycling system, branded Simpler Recycling, which would mandate waste items each local authority has to recycle.

A deposit return scheme (DRS) to incentivise consumers to recycle plastic packaging is also still languishing in limbo.

The UK should be a world leader in sustainability, so why do we keep kicking the can down the road?

The cost of living crisis

The extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme was due to be rolled out in October 2024.

But after bowing to pressure from packaging and retail lobbyists, the government has pushed it back to 2025.

The cost of living crisis is the driving factor for the delay, as manufacturers would have no choice but to pass costs onto consumers who are already overburdened with rising prices.

As a business owner who has also faced the consequences of numerous expensive changes in legislation in recent years, I’m not blind to the economic impact of new sustainability rules.

But putting off bold moves today only means a more costly environmental price to pay down the line, which of course carries its own economic repercussions.

Other factors holding the scheme back include a lack of clarity on what the costs are going to be and exactly how it’s going to work.

There is a critical need for fresh recycling initiatives, so the question remains: why are we consistently failing to roll them out?

Wasted opportunities

Plans for the EPR were first laid out in the Resources and Waste Strategy in 2018.

The strategy also promised nationwide food waste collections, which is showing no sign of materialising any time soon either, despite a target to halve food waste per capita by 2030.

It’s baffling that we still face the problem of food waste when we have the technology to transform it into a valuable source of energy.

The potential is enormous, but constant dallying is hindering our progress towards a more sustainable future.

The clock is ticking, and the environment doesn’t wait for political convenience or economic comfort.

And there’s a familiar pattern of delays across other schemes.

MORE: Food waste recycling: The complete UK guide

Take-back pushed back

A new take-back scheme to incentivize recycling is facing its own set of challenges.

These systems work by adding a surcharge to products for the packaging, and giving a refund when it’s returned.

On paper, a deposit-return scheme appears to be an ideal solution – and it’s clearly working abroad.

There are 10 countries in Europe with DRS up and running, and even more around the world.

A study in Belgium found that DRS doesn’t impact drink uptake, which should assuage fears that surcharges could impact sales.

So why is the UK still struggling to catch up?

Firstly, there’s been a big debate in Scotland about whether glass should be included in the scheme.

While glass is highly recyclable and has great potential for reducing waste, including it in the DRS has raised concerns about the higher costs of processing the material, potentially driving businesses and consumers towards plastic.

MORE: How glass recycling works: From sorting to new products

Still, even a glass-less DRS won’t see the light of day for at least another two years due to the political squabbling.

If you ask me, we need leaders who understand that reaching net zero is a time sensitive issue and will do what it takes to get it done.

Balancing the environment and the economy

Of course, the pandemic, Brexit, and cost of living crisis are important factors to consider before rolling out ambitious recycling schemes.

But we need to strike a fair balance between economic considerations and environmental goals.

Current recycling systems already mean huge costs for financially challenged local governments, costs which themselves are passed onto residents in the form of council tax.

So shifting costs to the businesses generating unsustainable packaging in the first place seems like the obvious solution.

I understand the pressure of a challenging economy, but that hasn’t stopped the government rushing out complicated legislation like the red diesel ban last year, POPs waste regulations, and now new wood recycling rules.

All of these put additional pressure on the waste management, construction, and transport industries, not to mention local government and consumers who inevitably absorb some of the costs.

But we all just had to get on with it or face the threat of hefty fines.

It didn’t take long before these new initiatives evened out and people got used to it, so I don’t see why there needs to be so much hand-wringing over recycling schemes.

No time to waste

Sustainability legislation is notoriously difficult to pass in the UK, but powerful companies and their lobbyists make it even harder to get good ideas past the post.

The government simply has to make these decisions and get them done. There’s never a right time, especially in such a volatile political climate.

Environmental issues are not bound by political timelines or economic constraints. They are persistent, growing problems that are impacting our world every day.

The longer we wait, the more food waste ends up in landfills, the more plastic accumulates in our environment, and the less incentive people have to actively participate in recycling.

Delaying recycling schemes may save money in the short term, but it comes at a far greater cost in the long-term environmental impact.

And for businesses that are directly impacted, delays in sustainability schemes only create more uncertainty and make it hard to prioritise spending.

Recycling schemes are not just about waste management; they are about shaping our future in the UK.

Critical moment for UK

The UK has made considerable progress in raising environmental awareness and setting ambitious goals, but now it’s time to turn these goals into reality.

As a nation, we have a unique opportunity to lead in environmental innovation.

The rest of the world is watching, and the decisions made in this critical moment will set a precedent for other nations to follow.

The challenges are real, but not insurmountable – the environmental consequences of inaction, however, could be…

SunEnviro supports moves to reduce waste going to landfill and is constantly innovating its own practices to improve recycling and EfW rates.