£27bn foodservice packaging sector sets out priorities for the new government

For the attention of the Rt Hon Dame Angela Eagle DBE MP, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at Defra

July 2026

Dear Secretary of State,

Foodservice packaging and the delivery of Defra’s priorities

On behalf of the Foodservice Packaging Association, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as Environment Minister. The FPA represents 130 manufacturers and distributors with an estimated combined economic footprint of more than £27 billion and supporting 70,000 jobs.

We noted your first statement in the role and the priorities you set out: tackling the cost of living; fixing the water system to clean up rivers, lakes and seas; backing British food production; restoring nature and pride in local communities; and building a renewed relationship with the EU to help keep food bills down.

The foodservice packaging sector has a direct role to play in supporting those objectives. Packaging is part of the essential infrastructure that allows food and drink to be served safely, hygienically, affordably and conveniently across hospitality, catering, retail, education, healthcare, travel and the wider food-to-go market.

The sector helps protect food, reduce waste, support public health and strengthen national food security by ensuring food can be transported, stored and consumed safely while minimising waste throughout the supply chain.

The FPA supports the principle of producer responsibility and wants packaging reforms to succeed. Our members are investing in recyclable materials, recycled content, lower-carbon manufacturing, circular design and improved environmental performance. However, the success of pEPR, RAM, DRS, Simpler Recycling and future circular economy policy will depend on whether the system is practical, evidence-based, fair and capable of delivering real environmental outcomes.

However, the success of packaging Extended Producer Responsibility, the Recyclability Assessment Methodology, deposit return schemes, Simpler Recycling and future circular economy policy will depend on whether the system is practical, evidence-based, fair and capable of delivering measurable environmental outcomes.

Plastic Packaging Tax, although administered by HMRC rather than Defra, forms part of the same environmental legislative and compliance landscape that our members must manage. Businesses face costs whether they use recycled plastic, through sourcing, auditing and potentially certifying recycled content, or use virgin plastic and incur the tax.

The cumulative effect of these policies must therefore be considered across government to ensure they work together, avoid unnecessary duplication and provide businesses with the confidence to invest.

Against this backdrop, we have identified five priority areas where early government action would help give industry the certainty to invest, support British manufacturing and food supply chains, protect consumers from unnecessary costs and deliver a more effective circular economy:

Five priorities for the new government

1. Refine Extended Producer Responsibility

The FPA supports the principle that producers should take responsibility for the packaging they place on the market. However, pEPR must now be refined to increase confidence, transparency and fairness.

Well-designed pEPR can support your cost-of-living objective by improving recycling outcomes without adding unnecessary costs that do not deliver measurable environmental benefit. Poorly targeted fees, avoidable duplication and weak enforcement risk increasing costs for responsible businesses and consumers while failing to improve circularity.

The FPA is calling for:

    • An independent review of producer registration and enforcement.
    • Greater transparency around fee modelling and underlying assumptions.
    • Stronger assurance that all obligated producers contribute fairly.
    • Publication of confidence measures within the producer base.
    • Implementation of recyclability fee modulation only when confidence in the producer base has been established.

These measures would help ensure pEPR supports better recycling, fairer competition and public confidence, while reducing the risk that compliant UK businesses are disadvantaged by those avoiding their obligations.

2. Put evidence at the centre of environmental policy

Future environmental policy should be informed by robust lifecycle evidence and whole-system outcomes rather than assumptions about individual materials.

Foodservice packaging has an important role in supporting food safety, reducing food waste, protecting product quality and enabling affordable access to food and drink across a wide range of settings. Policy should reflect these wider benefits while continuing to encourage innovation across all packaging materials.

This evidence-led approach would support your priorities on the cost of living, British food production, clean local environments and food security. It would help ensure that packaging policy reduces waste and environmental impact overall, rather than shifting burdens from one part of the system to another.

3. Provide certainty for investment

Following an unprecedented period of regulatory change, businesses now need clear implementation plans, consistent guidance and long-term policy certainty.

This is particularly important following the delay to mandatory collections of plastic films and flexibles, and as producers prepare for pEPR fee modulation, RAM, DRS, Simpler Recycling and digital waste tracking. Producers are being asked to fund reform, but they need confidence that the necessary collection, sorting and reprocessing infrastructure will be in place to deliver the outcomes those fees are intended to support.

This is particularly important following the delay to mandatory collections of plastic films and flexibles, and as producers prepare for pEPR fee modulation, RAM, DRS, Simpler Recycling, digital waste tracking and further requirements associated with Plastic Packaging Tax.

The FPA is currently preparing its response to HMRC’s consultation on the possible introduction of certification requirements for mechanically recycled content.

We recognise the importance of ensuring claims for recycled content are robust. However, any certification regime must be proportionate, practical and designed to avoid duplicating existing auditing, evidence and record-keeping requirements.

The cost and availability of recycled material, together with the administrative burden of sourcing, auditing and certifying it, affect businesses throughout the supply chain. Where virgin plastic is used, Plastic Packaging Tax adds a direct cost that is ultimately reflected in product prices.

Although the tax sits outside Defra’s direct remit, its interaction with packaging policy should be considered as part of the wider environmental programme. Coordination between Defra, HMRC and other relevant departments would help ensure that separate policy measures reinforce rather than conflict with one another.

Producers are also being asked to fund wider packaging reform, but they need confidence that the necessary collection, sorting and reprocessing infrastructure will be in place to deliver the outcomes those fees are intended to support.

Providing certainty would help unlock investment in UK manufacturing, recycling infrastructure, innovation and circular design. It would also support the government’s wider ambition to keep resources in use for longer, reduce residual waste and restore pride in local communities through better recycling and cleaner local environments.

4. Champion British manufacturing

The foodservice packaging sector supports tens of thousands of skilled jobs and makes an important contribution to UK manufacturing, supply chain resilience and the wider foodservice economy.

Government policy should encourage domestic investment, strengthen competitiveness and avoid unintended consequences that disadvantage responsible UK manufacturers. This is especially important as businesses face rising regulatory, energy, labour and material costs.

A strong UK foodservice packaging sector can support your objective of backing British food production by ensuring the foodservice, hospitality and catering supply chains have access to safe, reliable and fit-for-purpose packaging. It can also help reduce reliance on imports, support local employment and encourage investment in lower-carbon production and circular materials.

5. Continue working with industry

The FPA believes the best policy is developed collaboratively.

We welcome the increasingly constructive engagement established with Defra, PackUK and the Environment Agency over the past year and stand ready to support ministers with practical industry expertise as packaging reforms continue to evolve.

Our members can provide evidence from across the supply chain, including manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers and foodservice operators. That evidence can help government understand how policy decisions affect real-world packaging choices, costs, infrastructure needs and recycling outcomes.

We would also welcome the opportunity to work with Defra on areas where a renewed relationship with the EU could reduce friction for businesses, particularly around packaging data, labelling, recyclability, documentation requirements and the interaction between UK reforms and the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation.

 

Building on progress

The new government has an opportunity to demonstrate that economic growth and environmental ambition can be delivered together.

The FPA is not seeking to slow reform. Our objective is to help ensure reform succeeds in a way that supports better environmental outcomes, protects consumers from unnecessary costs, strengthens UK manufacturing and gives businesses the confidence to invest.

To achieve that, the sector needs clear ministerial ownership of circular economy, waste and packaging policy; timely publication of the Circular Economy Growth Plan; robust data; fair fee structures; realistic implementation timelines; and investment in the collection, sorting and reprocessing infrastructure needed to make circularity work in practice.

We would welcome an early meeting with you and the relevant ministerial team to discuss how government and industry can work together to deliver packaging reforms that support cleaner local environments, resilient food supply chains, competitive British manufacturing and a more effective circular economy.