Environmental Legislation Update
Peter Schofield
Director and Principal Environmental Consultant
M: 07920 194998
E: peters@gepenv.co.uk
W: www.gepenv.co.uk

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Plastic Packaging Tax (General) Regulations SI 2022/117
What is the aim of the tax?
To provide an economic incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging,which will create greater demand for this material. In turn this will stimulate increased levels of recycling andcollection of plastic waste, diverting it away from landfill or incineration.

What does this apply to?
This will apply to plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30%
recycled plastic. Plastic packaging is classed as packaging that contains more plastic, when measured by weight,
than any other single substance (e.g. wood, cardboard, aluminum, steel).
Who will this affect?
From 1st April 2022, this will affect UK manufacturers of plastic
packaging, importers of plastic packaging, business customers ofmanufacturers and importers of plastic packaging, who manufacture or
import 10+ tonnes of packaging in a one-year period.
How much will the tax be?
The tax will be charged at a rate of £200 per tonne.
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Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-Related FinancialDisclosure) Regulations SI 2022/31
Requires the company to report on
Climate-Related Risks and Opportunities annually within their Energyand Carbon Report, or Strategic Report• Applies to Financial Years from 6th April 2022

• Several qualification criteria, but includes listed companies or 500+employees and £500m+ turnover• Equivalent requirement for Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)

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Companies (Strategic Report) (Climate-Related FinancialDisclosure) Regulations SI 2022/31
The following reporting requirements:• Governance process for assessing climate risk and opps.
• How climate risks and opps. are integrated into overall risk

management processes• Describe the key climate risks that apply to the company• Analysis of resilience to difference climate scenarios• Targets (and performance/KPIs) to reduce climate risks andachieve climate opportunities

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Slide: 4Electric Vehicles (Smart Charge Points) Regulations SI 2021/1467
Provides ‘Smart Charging’ requirements for new charge points for homes and workplaces (not public chargepoints) and comes into force on 30 June 2022. Smart charging is designed to enhance effectiveness andefficiency in energy consumption
Some of the key requirements include:

1. Data and Connectivity: All new charge points must have a data connection, with the ability to measure,record and transmit usage (in minutes and as units of energy) and delay charging or slow it down during
periods where grid demand is highest (8am to 11am weekday and 4pm to 10pm weekend).
2. Off-Peak Charging: As a nudge to encourage smarter behavior, new charge points will be pre-configured toavoid charging during peak hours (can be overridden)

3. Staggered Charge Times: charge points will randomly defer off-peak charging sessions by ten minutes (tominimise surges in demand e.g. everyone charging on-the-hour)
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UK GOV Guidance on Making Environmental Claims
Environmental claims suggest that a product, service, process, brand or businessis better for the environment, such as:
1. has a positive environmental impact or no impact on the environment;
2. is less damaging to the environment than a previous version of thesame good or service; or
3. is less damaging to the environment than competing goods or services.
Environmental claims can appear in ads, marketing material, branding, on
packaging or in other information provided to consumers. This can include thecolours, pictures and logos used and the overall presentation.
Environmental claims are genuine when they properly describe the impact of theproduct, service, process, brand or business, and do not hide or misrepresent
crucial information.

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UK GOV Guidance on Making Environmental Claims
The Guidance provided by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
aims to help businesses comply with the law in relation to preventing
misleading claims about environmental credentials regarding their products
or services and encourage them to invest in the environmental performanceof their products or services.

It sets out the following principles when it comes to making environmental
claims, which means they must:
1. be truthful and accurate;
2. clear and unambiguous;
3. not omit or hide important relevant information;
4. be fair and meaningful when compared to other products or services;
5. consider the full life cycle of the product or service; and6. be substantiated.
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UK GOV Bans on F-Gas in New Products and Equipment
The EA and DEFRA provides information on what uses of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) arebanned in the UK or will be banned in the future. It has recently been updated for new F-gases.

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Consultation: Introduction of Mandatory Digital Waste Tracking
There is no comprehensive way of tracking waste because separate systems havedeveloped over the last 30 years relating to the transport, management anddescription of waste, leaving a fragmented system.

The consultation proposes to join up the separate systems and replace the current
paper-based waste records with digital versions (this is supported by UK Gov anddevolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland)
Key points of the consultation:
1. Waste will be covered by a digital waste tracking service (rather than paper)
2. Tracking will capture full journey of waste (from production to final disposal)
3. Bin collections for household waste wont change – but householders will begiven a unique identifier allowing people to see what happens to their waste

Open for consultation from Jan 2022 – April 2022www.gepenv.co.uk

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Slide: 9Consultation: Biodiversity Net Gain Regulations
The Environment Act 2021 sets out the mandate to implement Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) whichmeans that developments need to facilitate improvement or extension of natural habitats, which
essentially means that the environment is left in a better state than it was prior to the development
This consultation covers the scope of BNG and how this will work in practice, including:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Biodiversity gain planOff-site biodiversity gains,The market for biodiversity units,
Habitat banking,The biodiversity gain site register,
Additionality,
Statutory biodiversity credits, andReporting, evaluation and monitoring.

Open for consultation from Jan 2022 – April 2022
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Contact

Peter Schofield

Director and Principal Environmental Consultant
07920 194998
peters@gepenv.co.uk

www.gepenv.co.uk

CLIMATE | CARBON | SUSTAINABILITY | TRAINING

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