\n The Government\u2019s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme aims to ensure that producers cover the full cost of collecting, sorting, and processing packaging waste rather than council taxpayers.\n<\/p>\n
\n The funding is intended to support local authorities in the efficient reduction and disposal of packaging waste. While the amount awarded to Thurrock for 2025\/26 is the minimum confirmed, it is expected to increase following further refinement by Defra.\n<\/p>\n
\n There are no restrictions on how the funding must be spent, provided it aligns with the objectives of improving the environt\u00a0and delivering value for money.\n<\/p>\n
\n Introducing the scheme to cabinet on Tuesday, Victoria Holloway, councillor responsible for place and environment, said: \u201cThurrock has received an allocation of \u00a33.59 million through the government’s new pEPR scheme which fundamentally changes the way that packaging waste is funded in local government.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFor the first time the costs of managing packaging waste are being shifted from the local taxpayers to the producers who placed these materials on the market.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Holloway added: It’s a major step in driving environmental responsibility and supporting local authorities to improve recycling and reducing waste. Current performance on recycling is at 28.5 and sadly well below the national average.\n<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis presents both a challenge and a clear opportunity and provides us with a means to accelerate our waste and recycling transformation, improve the services we offer residents and reduce both the environmental and financial costs of waste management in Thurrock.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n The funding will allow the council to establishment of a \u00a31.5 million climate action team.\n<\/p>\n
\n The team will aim to\u00a0increase participation in food, recycling, and garden waste services and there will be improvements to the Household Waste Recycling Centre, including a new booking system, site safety enhancements, and reuse and recycling infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n
\n Ms Holloway said this would \u201censure that every pound of this new funding is targeted towards measurable improvements helping us to raise recycling rates deliver better value for money and create a cleaner greener and more sustainable Thurrock.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government\u2019s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme aims to ensure that producers cover the full cost of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-23112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}