Although the document is in its early stages of development, it could see some system set up to use producer responsibility funding to boost council packaging recycling schemes across the UK.
– Peter Robertson, Hampshire CC
It is being seen as a way of bridging the “almighty disconnect” between council recycling targets and industry packaging recovery targets under the EU Packaging Directive.
The protocol has already gained support from local authorities at chief executive level, and is to be discussed at a meeting of Defra's industry group, the Packaging Advisory Committee, in December.
Initial work on the document has been led by ACP chairman John Turner and local authority expert Bob Lisney.
But, the idea has also been championed by Peter Robertson, the chief executive of Hampshire county council, who has won support for the work within the Association of County Chief Executives.
Responsibilities
Mr Robertson, who is to discuss the work at a conference on the waste impact of the South East Plan on Friday, told letsrecycle.com that the protocol would not mean councils taking on packaging producers' recycling obligations.
He said: “What we are not trying to do is take over each other's responsibilities. It is about improving efficiency and performance. It will be about sharing best practice, sharing resources and even sharing finances if need be. We want to make sure all the doors are open and none are shut.”
Mr Robertson said around 50% of the average bin can comprise packaging waste, but with councils reaching for government-set waste targets based on weight, packaging materials are not prioritised for recycling collections.
He explained: “There is an almighty disconnect between targets. The packaging industry creates packaging for its clients and has targets applied to that, on the other side county and district councils have their own targets that do not refer to particular types of packaging.”
Materials
Although the UK is performing well in the recycling of certain types of packaging waste, such as paper and wood, recycling rates for materials like aluminium are more difficult to increase in line with European targets because they are more likely to be found in the household waste stream, rather than from commercial sources.
Mr Turner of the ACP said the packaging industry had found it difficult to engage with local authorities regarding the collection of packaging waste, partly because of the complications involved in councils' waste contracts.
But, he paid tribute to the commitment of Mr Robertson in developing the protocol and gaining support from the Association of County Chief Executives.
PRNs
Mr Turner said he believed some form of protocol could be finalised by the end of the year, and once finalised, some form of system could be developed regarding the flow of producer responsibility revenue, possibly involving packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs).
“What we are looking at is some kind of sensible cost between the two parties,” Mr Turner explained.
“The object of the exercise is to design the system that is the most easy to use. Compliance schemes are already investigating how to get more packaging from the household waste stream – and that is to be encouraged – but this is looking to develop some kind of best practice way of doing it for compliance schemes and individually-registered producers,” Mr Turner said.
Mechanisms
The ACP chairman revealed that various mechanisms for how funds might be transferred were being considered, including the possibility of a third party broker being used.
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Mr Robertson, meanwhile, said any possible moves to alter local authority recycling targets under a partnership with the packaging industry could be tested in his own county, Hampshire.
“In Hampshire we are advanced on our thinking, so we would hope to get a target set up quite quickly,” he said.
Peter Robertson will be speaking at the Hampshire county council-led event “We're not talking rubbish – we're talking resources”, at the Ark Conference Centre, Basingstoke, on October 27.
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