Company's Must Maximise Packaging Minimisation

Even though UK legislation is driving businesses to recognise their recycling commitments many of them are still failing to seize new opportunities for resource efficiency whilst they do so.

That is according to the UK government's environment and sustainability organisation, Envirowise, which said that companies should focus on working with their suppliers to fully realise the opportunities presented by packaging minimisation.

Because Defra has announced tougher business targets for packaging recovery and recycling rates until 2010, firms need to increasingly assess the risks and opportunities of compliance for them and their customers, said Envirowise's packaging specialist Jenni Rosser.

She commented: "Under UK packaging regulations, any company handling more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year and with an annual turnover greater than GBP2 million is obliged to register their obligation with a packaging compliance scheme, or directly with the Environment Agency.

They must provide evidence of their compliance with the annual recovery and recycling targets by purchasing Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) through an accredited re-processor, or approved compliance scheme." However, as Rosser explained: "The more stringent targets may increase the cost of compliance for many companies and whilst legislation is driving businesses to increasingly recognise their recycling commitments many are still failing to seize opportunities for resource efficiency along the way." She added that Envirowise would like to see people increasingly working with their suppliers to investigate how cleaner design could help to minimise packaging volumes.

For example, reducing the amount of raw material specified at design stage could help minimise carbon emissions generated by extraction and transportation, as well as reducing production costs.

In some cases, the cost of compliance could be reduced, or even offset by identifying new efficiencies.

Peter Gaffney, the director of compliance at Wastepack - a UK packaging compliance group, said: "Many of the major supermarket brands are now encouraging suppliers to meet ambitious waste reduction targets to demonstrate their wider CSR objectives.

This includes pressure for such items as shelf-ready packaging, which can be requested at quite a high material specification." He continued: "Packaging manufacturers could benefit by exploring alternative options, such as re-usable transit packaging, which allows them to retain more of the benefit of compliance.

Placing pressure on overseas suppliers to adopt better practice techniques can also help lower the volume of packaging being imported in to the country." Within UK industry, Envirowise said that it expects to see an increasing emphasis on a more holistic view of product and packaging lifecycles.

Defra has already announced plans to revise its overarching waste strategy by this spring to include product consumption.

Jenni Rosser commented: "This would challenge manufacturers to consider the disposal and re-use options for their products before they even leave the drawing board and efforts to minimise packaging would be a natural extension of this." She said that whilst the commercial and environmental benefits of cleaner design should provide sufficient motivation for businesses to act, it is also important for them to realise that under Producer Responsibility regulations businesses that do not register, or fail to comply, could face thousands of pounds in fines.

By minimising packaging volumes businesses could reduce, or even eliminate, their compliance costs under the regulation.

And Rosser explained: "Crucially, companies that do invest in sustainable design typically identify more efficient, innovative techniques and products that are more cost-effective or easier to make.

Therefore, cleaner design could be described as a win-win situation for industry and the environment and this latest announcement on packaging targets simply adds momentum to the cause.".

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