Defra fires early packaging target warning to producers

Sheila McKinley said it is “not enough” for reprocessors to agree to provide PRNs to producers obligated under the Packaging Regulations without ensuring that it will have the necessary tonnages of packaging waste delivered.

”We set up a system which clearly aimed to start with the easy – less expensive – material and move on to the more difficult – more expensive – material when targets required this. Well, the time has come to move to the more difficult material“
– Sheila McKinley, Defra
All those with obligations under the regulations and the reprocessors who deliver the recycling needed to meet the regulations must put more efforts into collection arrangements, Mrs McKinley said.

But, she pointed out that reprocessors are not obligated under the producer responsibility legislation – ultimately it is up to packaging producers and their schemes to ensure sufficient collections are in place.

A lot of the additional material must come from the household waste stream and the “away from home” waste stream, but again Mrs McKinley reminded packaging producers that local authorities are not obligated under the Packaging Regulations either.

Mrs McKinley was speaking at a “Reducing Packaging Waste” event in London yesterday organised by Recycling and Waste World Conferences.

Her speech came after new packaging waste reprocessing data confirmed that the UK is heading into a new stage in its packaging waste recovery where paper, wood and glass is being recycled at good levels – but steel, aluminium and plastics recovery is lagging behind.

Mrs McKinley said: “We set up a system which clearly aimed to start with the easy – less expensive – material and move on to the more difficult – more expensive – material when targets required this. Well, the time has come to move to the more difficult material.”

By December 2008, the UK must be recovering about 6,453,000 tonnes of packaging waste and recycling 5,915,000 tonnes. From the amount recovered in 2004, an additional 772,000 tonnes of packaging waste recovery is needed to meet this requirement of the EU Packaging Directive, Mrs McKinley said.

The key, she said, would be ensuring that sufficient material is collected to meet recycling and recovery targets, and the difficulty would come because much of the material needs to come from the household waste stream.

Mrs McKinley said: “This means all obligated parties must take steps to meet 2008 targets – and this includes talking to local authorities who have control of waste, and to the waste management companies who are contractors for some local authorities.”

Planning
To achieve this, detailed planning will be “crucial”, the Defra head of producer responsibility warned, and not just planning by the larger compliance schemes. All compliance schemes and obligated producers need to be focussing on how to reach the 2008 targets now, rather than worry purely about the 2005 or even 2006 compliance year, she said.

The PRN – packaging waste recovery note – system is in place and can permit the UK to reach the Directive targets, Mrs McKinley said. “Significant achievements have already been made by producers who comply,” she said, “including an increase in packaging waste recover of 22.5 percentage points since 1998.”

Mrs McKinley urged industry to respond by the June 22 deadline to the current consultation on leased/franchise packaging, which could make life even more difficult by including more packaging waste in the material obligated for recovery. Another consultation – which will look at adjusting 2006, 2007 and 2008 recovery targets, is expected in July, she confirmed.