Shoppers will face a £1bn “toaster tax” under plans for a new net zero ruleset, retailers and Conservative MPs have warned.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has announced plans to require larger shops to “take back” used electrical items such as toasters for recycling, even if they were purchased elsewhere.
The plans also call for online and high street retailers to provide a “free collection service on delivery”, under which they would have to collect a customer’s old items such as a washing machine, television or fridge if they deliver. new one.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, told The Telegraph the new requirements could cost firms “£1bn or more” a year; this figure will be passed on to consumers through higher prices.
The government insists the measures are needed to prevent millions of household electrical items from being thrown into landfill every year.
Plans ‘terrible’
The plans threaten to reignite rows in the Conservative Party over burdensome net zero regulations, which the Prime Minister has vowed to avoid in favor of a “pragmatic and proportionate” approach to decarbonisation that will avoid unnecessary pressures on households and businesses.
Conservative MP and former Brexit minister David Jones described the plans as “terrible” and akin to a secret “toaster tax”.
An official analysis accompanying the government’s consultation paper acknowledges that although the cost of the scheme will be paid upfront by retailers, it “could then be passed back on to consumers through higher prices”, although Downing Street insists its current focus is on easing consumer “pressures”. high cost of living.
“This will become an invisible price that everyone pays,” Ms Dickinson said, adding that, unlike Mr Sunak’s promise to take a “pragmatic and proportionate” approach to net zero, “It doesn’t feel pragmatic.”
The government’s consultation paper, which sets out the planned changes that will come into force from 2026, says they are part of a range of measures that will “influence the transition of the entire economy to net zero”.
Mrs Dickinson said: “We think [the bill would be] “It could be hundreds of millions of pounds plus, £1 billion or more.” The cost will be borne by retailers rather than being funded by revenue currently generated through business rates and council tax.
Mr Jones added: “This is the kind of burdensome regulation we thought we would eliminate when we leave the EU.
“This is an extraordinary imposition on businesses and the Government should have nothing to do with it. “I think it is completely unreasonable to expect retailers to do this.”
‘Stores may stop selling electrical goods’
The most controversial proposal is for “retailers with an electrical sales turnover of over £100,000 each year to ensure that unwanted electrical equipment from the store is taken back free of charge, without the need to purchase a new product.”
Some stores may stop selling electrical products to avoid adhering to the requirements, Ms. Dickinson said.
If a large chemist sold electrical products such as curling irons and hair dryers, they would also have to accept equivalent products purchased from other stores.
Ms Dickinson said: “If retailers are forced to buy more of what they sell, some who only sell small quantities may stop selling them altogether, and larger supermarkets may also reduce the range of products on offer, reducing customers’ choice.”
Television and hi-fi retailer Richer Sounds has warned that its 50 stores are already “packed to the rafters” with stock.
Julie Abraham, the firm’s chief executive, told The Telegraph that the chain did not have “massive spare rooms to store every broken TV, radio and speaker that could be left in our stores under proposed changes to electrical recycling rules”.
He added: “This means we need to increase collections from our stores to eliminate these products, increasing our carbon footprint and creating new costs to our business, the environment and ultimately our customers.”
‘We can’t do it for free’
The plans are also opposed by Currys, with chief executive Alex Baldock saying the firm’s current recycling policy means it “accounts for almost half of all retail technology recycling in the UK”.
Speaking earlier this month, Mr Baldock warned that retailers were currently making just £3 for every £100, adding: “We can’t do this for free.”
The row comes after The Telegraph reported last week that ministers had angered Tory MPs by quietly introducing legislative changes that amounted to a significant expansion of New Labor’s Equality Act; Mr Sunak once claimed this “allowed all sorts of woke nonsense to permeate public life”. and “should stop”.
The latest revelations center on an ongoing consultation on plans to require “manufacturers and distributors” of electrical goods to fund the “full net cost” of recycling or otherwise disposing of used electronic products to prevent them from ending up in landfill.
Ms Dickinson said the cost borne by retailers would also include the “opportunity costs” of lost space that would normally be used for storing, displaying and delivering stock.
Currently, retailers with a turnover from electrical sales of more than £100,000 must take back unwanted electrical equipment when a customer purchases a new equivalent version of the same product. The service is rarely advertised due to the additional costs shops would face if it became a popular alternative to dumping old items at local authority recycling facilities.
‘Plans will make recycling easier’
The government wants to extend existing rules so that liability to shops is no longer “linked to the purchase of a new product”. Stores will also be required to inform customers of their legal obligation to accept old electrical goods.
The consultation paper suggested that one option was to limit the “takeback” service to products “equivalent” to those sold by each store. The consultation document states that this option would “avoid a scenario where, for example, a specialist electrical shop selling only lighting products would need to take back a toaster”.
Ms Dickinson criticized the Government for not engaging with businesses more thoroughly before the proposals were published. The talks will end on March 7.
He said: “The government has been indecisive for years and has now announced proposals that are flawed because they have chosen not to engage with retailers who are vital to the success of increasing electricity recycling.”
Steve Pendleton, services director at Currys, said: “At Currys we are already implementing a scaled and successful solution that meets the objectives of our customers and the planet and is sustainable for our business. We strongly urge the Government to focus on leveraging the innovative and competitive nature of the entire retail sector to support everyone to achieve the same.” We invite you.”
A Defra spokesman said: “Millions of household electricity is thrown into the bin every year across the UK rather than being recycled or reused properly. These proposals will make it easier for people to recycle electricity and deliver a much-needed move towards a more circular economy.
“We are consulting widely about these plans, including with industry leaders, and will fully consider all consultation responses before taking next steps.” Some 155,000 tonnes of smaller household electrical items, including cables, toasters and kettles, are thrown into traditional bins each year.