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New product tax needed to increase recycling and stop waste at source

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19 November 2006

The Government should tax disposable and hard-to-recycle products to encourage manufacturers to produce less waste, according to a new report published today (Sun) by the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) and Green Alliance. The report is published ahead of the Chancellor’s Pre-Budget Report and the Government’s Waste Strategy. Earlier this week, Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw met major UK supermarkets to urge them to cut down on packaging.

The report recommends that a new tax targets products such as throw-away cameras, disposable razors and non-rechargeable batteries. Sweden, Denmark and Belgium have all reduced consumption of disposable products by imposing similar taxes. In 1996 Belgium introduced a £5 on disposable cameras that were not recycled or reused - as a result, 80 per cent of all disposable cameras are now recycled or reused.

The report argues that the tax should also apply to drinks cartons such as those made by Tetra Pak, which are hard to recycle because they are made of layers of cardboard, plastic and metal foil. Currently four billion cartons are used in the UK each year but less than ten per cent are recycled. This compares with rates in excess of 65 per cent in countries such as Germany, where there is a 1.5 pence charge on cartons to pay for collection and recycling and in Belgium, where there is a 0.5 pence charge.

Nick Pearce, Director of ippr, said:

“We have become an increasingly throw-away society, reliant on cheap, disposable and hard-to-recycle goods, adding each year to the UK’s 300 million tonne rubbish mountain. Business needs to take greater responsibility for the whole life of products, by paying a product tax that goes towards payment for disposal. This is only fair if we are going to introduce ‘pay-as-you-throw’ charges for collecting household rubbish. And it’s the best way to stop businesses manufacturing hard-to-recycle products.”

Julie Hill, Green Alliance, said:

“Taxing disposable products to encourage consumers to switch to more durable alternatives, or taxing products to pay for their recycling, will give manufacturers no choice but to ultimately design out waste.”

The report also says that giving local authorities ‘pay-as-you-throw’ powers to charge for collecting non-recyclable household waste is the best way to meet current recycling targets and move towards a target of zero waste. This will help England, who currently recycles 27 per cent of its waste, to catch up with Europe’s top recycler the Netherlands, which recycles 65 per cent its waste. The report highlights other examples from Europe, including Germany, where some local areas charge around 18 pence per kilo for waste that is not recycled, boosting collection of recyclable materials to more than 65 per cent.

Notes to Editors:

Denmark has taxed disposable products, such as tableware, since 1982, nickel cadmium batteries since 1996 and many forms of packaging since 1999. Since the introduction of these taxes there have been marked declines in the revenue raised from their sale, signalling a corresponding decline in the use of these products.

In Belgium, levies have been threatened on disposable razors, while disposable cameras and batteries have already been made subject to levies. In the case of cameras, the tax can be avoided by manufacturers that meet recycling targets of 80 per cent.

In Sweden, mercury and nickel cadmium batteries are taxed to encourage a switch to alternatives. Since it was introduced in 1991 there has been a 74 per cent reduction in the tonnage of levied batteries sold.

In the UK, 22,000 tonnes of household batteries required disposal in the UK each year. Only two per cent of disposable batteries are recycled – the rest end up in landfill sites. While, 12-14,000 tonnes of ink cartridges ended up in landfill each year. Thirty to forty per cent of the 40 million sold in the UK were remanufactured or recycled.

ASDA has committed to zero waste to landfill by 2010 and in addition, all of the products sold under the ASDA brand will be redesigned over the next 18 months, with the aim of reducing the weight and volume of packaging by at least 10 per cent.
The Eden Project in Cornwall has pioneered a ‘waste neutral’ approach that encourages maximum recycling by visitors and at the other end of the chain, tries to buy in as much recycled product as possible.
Interface Sustainability’s ‘re-entry’ scheme aims to ensure that old carpet (theirs or a competitor’s) is reused, recovered or recycled, rather than being sent to landfill.
Sainsbury’s has committed to reducing overall packaging by five per cent relative to turnover by 2010. Sainsbury’s is continuing to increase the number of products that use compostable packaging, a biodegradable solution made from renewable sources like maize or sugar cane. It is working with suppliers to replace the use of cardboard with reusable crates that save around 21 cardboard boxes, increasing the weekly usage to nearly one million and saving approximately 8,400 tonnes of cardboard a year. Sainsbury’s ‘Bags for Life’ are replaced for free and recycled when worn out. They are currently selling at 120,000 per week and save about 50 million standard bags each year.

A Zero Waste UK was commissioned by ippr from Green Alliance and written by Julie Hill, Ben Shaw and Hannah Hislop. It is available to download here.

‘Zero waste’ refers to zero waste to landfill and maximum recycling.

Contacts:

Matt Jackson, ippr senior media officer, 020 7339 0007 / 07753 719 289 / m.jackson@ippr.org

Richard Darlington, ippr media manager, 020 7470 6177 / 07738 320 645 / r.darlington@ippr.org