Statutory plastic producer levy proposals are five years too late says NFU Cymru

NFU Cymru says that proposals by the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government and DEFRA on a manufacturer responsibility scheme for the collection of non-packaging agricultural plastics has arrived too late and has been superseded by the changes taking place on the ground in response to market forces and consumer demands.

At this stage in 2010, NFU Cymru argues that it would be more practical and cost effective to explore alternative voluntary and industry-led approaches, which would increase affordable collection and recycling of farm plastics as opposed to a government-led statutory approach.

Chairman of NFU Cymru’s Rural Affairs Board, Bernard Llewellyn, said, "We have strong reservations whether this complicated scheme which has been proposed will deliver genuine and cost-effective benefits to farmers. The cost involved only applies to one fraction of the plastic waste stream and farmers will still be paying the costs of packaging disposal. Furthermore, we would be concerned that only the very cleanest waste plastic would be accepted into the scheme.

"While NFU Cymru supports the general principles of manufacturer responsibility, the model proposed is not the low cost, low burden scheme we had envisaged. We are no longer confident that the proposed approach is necessary and feel that the considerable cost involved outweighs the benefits."

NFU Cymru remains committed to encouraging sustainable farm waste management, but believes that this could be better achieved by working together, with farm waste collectors and plastic manufacturers to develop an alternative, more cost-effective and integrated approach to encourage the collection and recycling of all farm waste plastics.