ESA welcomes public support to tackle plastic waste

The Environmental Services Association (ESA), the voice for the UK’s resource and waste management industry, has welcomed the publication of the summary of responses to the Treasury’s consultation on reducing single-use plastics and boosting recycling through the tax system.

ESA’s Executive Director Jacob Hayler said: “We are delighted that the public is behind greater recycling of plastic and as an industry we are committed to working collaboratively with Treasury to make this a reality. A plastic tax will have the biggest impact when it is aimed at production and manufacturing and we are pleased to see that the Treasury is looking at how to encourage greater use of recycled plastic at the start of the waste cycle.

“It is simply wrong to compare recycling as an alternative to Energy from Waste (EfW) and any suggestion that a tax on incineration will improve recycling is misguided. The reality is that EfW is a much-needed alternative to landfill for waste which cannot be recycled. As an industry we don’t want plastic going to our EfW plants and we invest heavily in recycling as much as practically possible, recovering energy from what is left behind. The Treasury should recognise the valuable role of EfW in putting waste that we cannot recycle to further use, and use tax effectively to target those who manufacture non-recyclable plastic.