As a company limited by guarantee, OPRL Ltd is backed by organisations who also believe in “maximising the effective recycling of packaging materials”, but who do not have any controlling or financial interest in the not-for-profit company.
OPRL reports to its guarantors annually on its progress against its business strategy.
British Glass joins ACE UK, Alupro, CPI, INCPEN, LARAC, MPMA and RECOUP as guarantors of OPRL Ltd.
The guarantors represent paper and card, beverage carton, aluminium and metals, and plastic packaging recycling organisations alongside local authority and brand and retailer recycling interests.
Dave Dalton, chief executive of British Glass, said: “I am delighted that British Glass has joined OPRL as a guarantor in partnership with representatives across the packaging materials sectors.
“British Glass is absolutely committed to continuing to drive up recycling rates across the UK to develop a circular economy for packaging. We want to see every glass bottle and jar recycled back into a new glass bottle or jar.
“All glass packaging is 100% recyclable, and the on-pack label plays a crucial role in communicating recyclability and how to recycle to consumers.”
On-pack recycling labels
OPRL operates the UK-wide on-pack recycling label scheme used by more than 640 member companies and charities. Under OPRL’s rules most packaging is designated ‘Refill’, ‘Recycle’ or ‘Don’t Recycle’.
These designations went live on 29 January 2020 (see letsrecycle.com story). Previously the labels categorised packaging into three sub-categories: ‘Widely Recycled’; ‘Check Local Recycling’; and ‘Not Yet Recycled’. Launched in 2009, these older labels are due to be removed from all packaging by January 2023.
OPRL said its latest consumer recognition and response figures showed four in five consumers recognise OPRL labels, while 95% were confident they understood the new binary labels.
Commenting on British Glass becoming a guarantor, OPRL’s chair Jane Bevis said: “It’s great to welcome British Glass to our family of guarantors to complete our suite of materials organisations.
“Our strength lies in the broad coalition supporting and working with us on our labelling schemes, recyclability evaluation and design activities.
“Through this partnership with our guarantor organisations, we ensure we have a firm body of evidence underpinning our recyclability designations and labelling rules.”
Both Mr Dalton and Ms Bevis drew attention to upcoming regulatory reforms including the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR)and consistency in collections. Each stated their belief as to how important clear labelling would be in ensuring the reforms are successful.
Subscribe for free