The government has published an interim response to the consultation on expanding the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to Energy from Waste. A spokesperson for the North London Waste Authority responded to this, saying:
“It is welcome that the government has confirmed that local authorities will not be liable for full ETS costs having recognised the limited control we have over our waste composition, something we emphasised in our consultation response. It is now clear that, at least in part, this will be met through the inclusion of ETS costs in payments made via the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme. While this is a positive step, this principle must be expanded to other materials so producers – rather than taxpayers - bear the full burden of the waste they create.
“The decision to review the scheme following a period of voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification is also a sensible one. At a time when the Public Accounts Committee has stated that local authority finances are in a ‘perilous state’ it is imperative that the plans and details of the scheme’s expansion do not have unintended consequences.
“We encourage the ETS Authority to publish the second response as soon as possible, to provide us with full details and certainty. In the meantime, we will continue to engage with government to ensure they follow through on efforts to decarbonise waste and to ensure the scheme does not unduly burden local authority finances.”
