Unfair costs threaten the future of glass packaging in Wales

The approach to glass packaging policy costs is creating an unjust financial burden on businesses in Wales, states the British Glass association.

It threatens the viability of glass as a sustainable packaging choice, it said.

Under the current legislative framework, glass beverage packaging in Wales will be subject to both Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) fees and the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) setup costs and subsequent DRS operating costs, while metal and plastic packaging will not incur pEPR fees.

This is in contrast to the rest of the UK, where all glass packaging is exempt from DRS costs, meaning that glass placed on the market in Wales is at a disadvantage from its competing materials.

This discrepancy unfairly penalises glass, despite its status as a healthy and infinitely recyclable packaging material.

Packaging for the Welsh market has already been sold under the current policy fee structure, meaning these new costs will further distort the market, and add to inflationary pressure.

By making glass packaging more expensive to use in Wales, the policy risks driving towards less sustainable packaging options.

Industry leaders are calling for urgent changes to ensure fair application of the pEPR regulations across all four nations. The proposed solution is to:

• Exclude glass from pEPR costs in Wales with immediate effect – this would align glass with its competing beverage materials, preventing unnecessary financial burdens and protecting glass as a viable, sustainable packaging choice.

Nick Kirk, Technical Director at British Glass said: “The EPR policy should be applied equally across all four nations.

“However, in Wales, glass beverage packaging is included in both pEPR and DRS, whilst in the other three nations, packaging included in the DRS, is exempt from pEPR.

“This inconsistency increases the policy costs of glass beverage packaging and encourages the switch away from recyclable glass packaging to less recyclable alternatives.”

“We urge the Welsh Government to reconsider and ensure that the pEPR regulations are applied as they are in the other three UK nations.”

It is critical that UK policies support packaging materials that are recyclable and are ideal for any future reuse schemes.

Aligning glass packaging costs across the UK will protect businesses, promote sustainability, provide equal choice of food and beverage products for consumers and encourage consumers to make environmentally responsible choices.