Managing controlled waste - code of practice: duty of care - equalities impact assessment

Summary of aims and desired policy outcomes

1. This Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) has been prepared to accompany requirements for the separation and collection of plastic films (including flexible packaging) from 31 March 2027. The new requirements are introduced through amendment of the existing Duty of Care Code of Practice for managing controlled waste (hereafter the Code).

2. Plastic film (including flexible packaging) comprises around a third of plastic packaging placed on the market each year. However, it is estimated that only ~7% of plastic film is currently collected for recycling.^[1] This means that a substantial quantity of plastic enters the residual waste system due to insufficient incentives to increase the collection and processing infrastructure.

3. The collection of plastic film for recycling will increase the overall recycling rate for plastic packaging. Increasing market certainty around availability of supply will in turn incentivise the development of more reprocessing capacity and increase the availability of recycled plastic, which may help to reduce plastic packaging tax payments of producers.

4. This change was consulted on consulted upon as part of proposals for a UK-wide packaging EPR scheme. Three consultations have been conducted on these proposals:

• 2019. Consultation on reforming the UK packaging producer responsibility system^[2]
• 2021. Consultation on the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging^[3]
• 2023. Consultation on the draft Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024^[4]

5. The commitment to introduce collections was confirmed in the four nations government response in 2022. Implementation of that commitment is to be taken forward separately in each nation, rather than introduced through a UK-wide statutory instrument as was the case for Packaging EPR^[5].

6. Implementation of the requirement to collect plastic films for recycling from the non-household municipal sector in Scotland is taken forward through amendment of the existing Duty of Care Code of Practice for managing controlled waste The Scottish Government published a further public consultation on the updated Code from 27 November 2025 to 5 February 2026.^[6]

7. The development of impact assessments is an iterative process, and this Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) accompanies previous EQIAs completed for the UK-wide Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility regulations^[7],[8], and should be read in the context of those assessments.