Shoppers could see food bills rocket by another £60 a year thanks to recycling taxes forced on firms
SHOPPERS could see their food bills rocket by another £60 a year thanks to recycling taxes whacked on firms.
New laws to come in from 2024 will force companies to pay to recycle every bit of their packaging.
If all the costs were passed on to customers, it would add the cost of another 12 days of food and drink onto struggling households during major cost of living crisis.
Industry chiefs want Ministers to hit pause on their plans to bring in “Extended Producer Responsibility”.
It will see firms pay for their plastic containers to be recycled properly – and industry experts want to have more say in how it’s run.
Karen Betts, CEO of the Food and Drink Federation told The Sun the plans would “cost shoppers more at the tills” and hitting the brakes would be an “easy win” for consumers already facing rising bills as inflation soars.
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She said: “With households already hard-pressed, and low-income households living day by day to make ends meet, is this right?
“Efficient, effective, new recycling systems don’t need to cost this much, on top of what we all pay in Council Tax already.
“The effect of EPR and other recycling policies will be to force up prices.
“Despite the good intentions behind them, they are ill-thought out.”
Food bills are already soaring thanks to inflation and the after shocks of the war in Ukraine.
Some food is set to soar by around 20 per cent – the highest in a decade.
She added; “The priority for the next Prime Minister will be to address soaring inflation and the cost of living.
” They must look at whether government’s own actions are, in fact, adding to inflation.”
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Ministers have already ditched a string of red tape rules to help ease the cost of living crisis.
A ban on buy one get one free deal was abandoned earlier this year over fears it would hike prices.
A Defra spokesman said: “We don’t recognise these figures. Taxpayers already pay to get rid of packaging waste through their council tax bills. Under EPR, the companies who put packaging on the market pay instead. If they use less packaging, or make it easier to recycle, it will cost them less too.”