CoSWiG, the Compliance Schemes Working Group, had previously appointed a new chairman for each of its quarterly meetings, but Mr Barnish will now service as chairman for a full year.
The group hopes that by electing a new chairman annually, it will “maintain focus and make communication with government and enforcement agencies easier and more straightforward”
– Richard Barnish, CoSWiG chairman
Mr Barnish, who works for the UK's largest packaging waste compliance scheme, Valpak, has previously acted as the group's co-ordinator, and represented CoSWiG at external meetings and to the press. He will continue with these activities in his new role, a statement from CoSWig said today.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Barnish said: “I am delighted to have been appointed CoSWiG chairman for 2005. Compliance schemes face a number of challenges in the year ahead, as the Packaging Waste Recovery Note (PRN) market tightens, and the government is expected to launch two consultations on changes to the Packaging Waste Regulations this year.
CoSWiG intends to continue alternating its meetings between a policy and technical focus in 2005, a year in which members will be discussing possible amendments to the packaging regulations and recovery targets.
CoSWiG meetings are usually attended by representatives from the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Working groups
The group has also decided to form two working groups with the Environment Agency. The first of these groups will work to help design, test and implement the new data submission form that will be required to take account of the expected changes to the Packaging Waste Regulations in 2006.
The second group will be working on a longer term project to help the Agency to identify issues of monitoring data accuracy from compliance schemes.
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Mr Barnish said: “CoSWiG is committed to representing a unified and considered industry voice on issues surrounding compliance with the Packaging Waste Regulations, and we look forward to working even more closely with government and its associated agencies in 2005.”
CoSWiG members include Betapack, Biffpack, Budget-pack, Cleanapack, Complypak, Impact, Onyxpak, Paperpak, Pennine-Pack, Recycle-Pak, SWS Compak, TaG Pack, Valpak, Wastepack and Wespack.
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