Packaging was at the forefront of yesterday's legislative onslaught on waste. Announcing a slew of initiatives aimed at reducing the five million tonnes of packaging dumped annually, the Environment minister Ben Bradshaw conceded that existing regulations were too weak.

Loopholes in the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 2003 - which come from an EU directive - allow large amounts of packaging if there is consumer acceptance or it is judged necessary for marketing. Westminster Council said the legislation was too difficult to use when an MP handed in five items he considered to be overpackaged in a test case reported by The Independent, which has been running a Campaign Against Waste.

Launching the Government's Waste Strategy, Mr Bradshaw said: "We want to look at toughening up the law. Trading standards depots have the power to prosecute companies that use excessive packaging and there have been four such prosecutions. But we think the wording of the law makes it too difficult for the local authority to make successful prosecutions. The burden of proof is very high."

The Government said it wanted to increase the target for the recycling of packaging from the current 60 per cent, which has been achieved. Ministers will also set the ideal weight for different classes of packaging to prevent waste of resources and transportation pollution.

The shadow Environment Secretary, Peter Ainsworth said Britain was still regarded as "the dirty man of Europe". "Overall, waste is increasing by 3 per cent a year," he said. "I fear there will be at best widespread disappointment at your statement and at worst a degree of alarm."

Lord Bruce-Lockhart, chairman of the Local Government Association, pointed out that councils had argued for an "urgent and radical overhaul" of rubbish generation and disposal.

The Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Chris Huhne said: "We need to work on every aspect of the problem: curbing excess packaging by introducing a right to return at retailers and prosecuting manufacturers using unnecessary packaging." The Green Party called for a tax on packaging.

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