March 2019
We need your help to protect our industry
There is potentially bad news on the horizon as the UK Government has recently launched four consultation processes, two of which could seriously damage the UK Folding Carton Industry.
Plastic Packaging Tax
The first is from the HM Treasury and relates to the proposed Plastic Packaging Tax. This, you think would be good news for our industry with its sustainable, environmentally friendly credentials, but the HM Treasury is looking to apply a plastic tax, to which the amount is yet unknown, to packaging products that either:
- contain any plastic
- contain above a fixed percentage of plastic (amount not yet decided)
This could mean that polycoated boards, metpol, windowed cartons and laminated cartons are all subject to the tax, having a heavy effect on sales.
Read more here.
Reforming the UK packaging producer responsibility system
The second consultation is from the Government and is regarding reforming the UK packaging producer responsibility system. Currently most carton companies will be satisfying their legal obligations by being a member of a compliance scheme e.g. Valpak.
Under this consultation, the Government wants the packaging industry to pay the full net cost of managing packaging waste, and uses 'the polluter pays' principle which will significantly increase the costs to our industry. Currently it is thought that the industry pays around 10% of the cost of collecting and recycling packaging waste, and if full net cost is paid then this could add between £600 million and £1.5 billion to the packaging industry’s costs. We simply cannot afford these additional costs and must ensure that any increase in costs is passed through the supply chain to the consumer.
Read more here.
You may also be aware that recently WRAP, in conjunction with the CPI (Confederation of Paper Industries), produced a set of design guidelines relating to 'Paper and Board Packaging Recyclability.'
View the guidelines here.
Despite strong lobbying from BPIF Cartons, these documents are not good news for our industry as they currently state that anything over 5% plastic content (polycoated/metpol/windowed cartons) will be regarded as not recyclable, and when OPRL (On-pack Recycling Label) update its guidelines some of our environmentally friendly packs will be labelled as 'not yet recycled.' This will confuse the consumer and damages our sustainability position.
What are BPIF Cartons doing and how can you help?
As your trade body, BPIF Cartons will be responding to the various consultations by the middle of May when the consultation processes end and are working closely with our colleagues in the Packaging Federation.
We will continue to lobby the CPI and WRAP to amend their guidelines on recyclability in order to reflect what has actually happened for many years regarding the recyclability of cartonboard based packaging.
Please contact Jon Clark, General Manager, BPIF Cartons, to find out how you can show your support. The number of responses does influence Government thinking and we would very much appreciate your help.