EPR Legislation Lobbying Campaign

A dynamic and effective cross-party public affairs campaign that successfully sought change spanning the corridors of Government and DEFRA.

Through conducting apetito’s first ever political lobbying campaign against the Government’s proposed Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, the in-house’ Corporate Affairs, Policy and Sustainability team successfully influenced Government legislation in a way that gained recognition for its world-first industrial-scale closed-loop meal tray recycling system, that otherwise would have been unfairly and significantly penalised. Given the business has invested significantly in this innovative system to support ambitious Net Zero targets, it was imperative that work was carried out to influence this policy. Over four months the team conducted an intensive campaign lobbying more than 600 MPs (reaching out to them directly), engaging with over 50 responsive MPs, holding 21 visits at Wiltshire Farm Foods depots nationwide, hosting a ‘Drop In’ event in the House of Commons, and securing debates in both Westminster Hall and the House of Lords. In addition, the campaign drove extensive media coverage with a reach of over a billion, including 5 national titles, over 100 regionals, an editor letter published in the Financial Times and a campaign on LinkedIn to drive further awareness of this key issue. DEFRA has publicly confirmed that it will now incorporate pre-existing closed-loop recycling schemes – with better results than kerbside collections - into the policy, demonstrating the complete success of this lobbying campaign’s influence and reach, and providing an estimated business saving of circa. £500K-£1 million per year.