A group of trade associations have written to the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, Steve Reed, ahead of the EPR base fees being announced later this week. 

The Scotch Whisky Association, Wine & Spirit Trade Association, WineGB, British Beer and Pub Association, British Glass and UK Hospitality have all come together to outline a series of concerns. 

In the letter, the associations highlight that in its current form, EPR will impose significantly higher costs on glass compared to a range of other materials. 

It reads: “Glass is infinitely recyclable, but its fees will cover roughly 30% of the scheme’s cost, despite being just 5% of the volume of containers placed on the market. 

“This represents an unfair and disproportionate cost for businesses and consumers – who will ultimately be facing increased prices.” 

The group warned that this could result in producers switching to less recyclable materials, undermining the scheme’s original aims. 

Further, the letter raises concerns about the scheme’s workability: “A clear example of this is the definition of household packaging waste, also referred to as ‘dual use’ packaging. 

“EPR fees are intended to only apply to packaging disposed of in household waste streams. However, under the current exemptions process, businesses which supply to the on-trade via a wholesaler are likely to incur fees for packaging that will always end up in business waste streams.” 

As such, the trade associations are concerned that producers may incur double packaging costs due to ‘double counting’. 

The letter concludes that these issues need to be addressed “as a matter of urgency”. Final base fees are set to be released later this week on June 27.