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News Archive

March 2008: Consultation on export regulations
Defra wants to relax requirements for exporters to provide
evidence that foreign reprocessors of UK packaging waste
meet "broadly equivalent" standards to EU recyclers.

March 2008: The plastic bag industry has threatened legal action if the government forces retailers to cut down on their use of plastic bags.

March 2008: Chancellor Alistair Darling has pledged action to reduce the use of disposable carrier bags within this year's Budget.

March 2008: Reprocessing data - Q1-4, 2007
The Environment Agency has confirmed that the UK easily
met its packaging waste recovery targets in 2007 with
a surplus of nearly one million tonnes of recycling.

February 2008: The Sustainable Development Commission has called on Defra to develop a Packaging Strategy to strengthen producer responsibility.

February 2008: Recyclers have cast doubt over whether the PRN system - with Defra's new targets - will be capable of building packaging collections for households.

February 2008: Recycling targets 2008-2010
Defra has announced revised packaging waste recovery
targets for three years from 2008; but is still deciding on
2011 to 2012.

January 2008: The Local Government Association has claimed the PRN system "isn't really helping any more" in supporting household recycling collections.

January 2008: WRAP has accepted its voluntary producer responsibility agreement with the grocery sector - the "Courtauld Commitment" - must broaden its focus.

January 2008: A Telford wine importing business has been handed a record fine for failing to pay for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste.

December 2007: Ministers are keen to push up recovery targets for packaging producers.

November 2007: WRAP has highlighted the risks in the UK's dependency on exports to meet its recycling targets.

November 2007: Minister Joan Ruddock has called on the packaging industry to work more closely with local authorities to increase household recycling collections.

October 2007: Suggestions that mixed plastics such as yoghurt pots, food trays and packaging should be collected and recycled in the UK have been met with caution.

October 2007: Aluminium reprocessor Novelis Recycling has been exporting UK cans to Germany because of the plastic contamination within some loads.

October 2007: Reprocessing data - Q3, 2007
The UK looks likely to easily hit its packaging waste recovery
and recycling targets this year, new figures for the first three
quarters of the year suggest.

October 2007: Britain's youngest MP has introduced a Bill into Parliament to set binding targets for retailers to reduce the amount of packaging they use, however, the Bill does not have government backing.

October 2007: Supermarkets should to do more to cut their use of packaging, or Britain will fail to meet its recycling targets, according to the LGA.

October 2007: The aluminium industry is meeting with Defra and the Environment Agency on Thursday, over fears that this year's recycling targets will not be met.

October 2007: Recycling targets consultation
Defra has issued a six-week consultation to seek industry
views on proposals to raise packaging recovery and recycling
targets - particularly for glass, aluminium and steel.

September 2007: Liberal Democrats backed new Party policies to dramatically reduce the amount of packaging used by retailers to sell household items.

July 2007: Reprocessing data - Q2, 2007
Figures also including revised data for Q1 show that the
recycling of packaging waste in the first half of the year has
set the UK comfortably on course to meet its targets in 2007.

July 2007: Exporters of aluminium packaging waste have now been given until the end of the year to provide evidence that non-EU reprocessors receiving British waste come up to European standards in order to issue PERNs.

July 2007: The Environment Agency warned exporters of "green list" wastes that the new Transfrontier Shipment on Waste Regulations came into force on July 12.

June 2007: The mastermind behind the UK's packaging waste recovery system, Sheila McKinley, retired from her post as head of producer responsibility with Defra.

June 2007: Defra's Advisory Committee on Packaging has made a series of recommendations for changes to the packaging regulations.