The glass packaging recycling target for obligated businesses looks likely to be reduced from April 2014, as the government has today (December 17) launched a one-month consultation on amending the current 81% target.
At present, obligated businesses must account for the recycling of 81% of the total glass packaging placed on the market until 2017.
The 81% figure is an essential part of the calculations on the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) in order for the UK to comply with the EUs overall glass recycling target of 60%. The EU target includes both business and local collection glass recycling rates.
The consultation comes in the wake of the ACPs Glassflow report, published in October 2013, which suggested that the amount of glass on the UK market has been overestimated.
Five options outlined in the consultation document and they include maintaining the current target (do nothing), reducing it to 75% or reducing it to 77%.
The consultation document states that the UK Government does not have a preferred option, but that it is not minded to pursue a do nothing option as this would incur higher costs on obligated producers to deliver the required level of recycling set by the business targets.
And, it is likely that any potential changes will come into force from the next financial year, as the document states that the consultation has been reduced to one month in order to make a decision in time for the Budget 2014.
The consultation follows a long-awaited report on the glass market in October concluded that the amount of glass on the UK market had been overestimated by around 350,000 tonnes, leading to calls for the targets to be lowered to more accurately reflect the market (see letsrecycle.com story).
It was previously estimated that there was around 2.75 million tonnes of glass on the market which is the figure on which Defras targets are based but the report estimated that the actual figure is closer to around 2.4 million tonnes.
However, a reduction in targets could lead to a decrease in glass PRN prices, which has caused some concern among glass recyclers (see letsrecycle.com story).
Also included in the consultation are options to either maintain or amend the split between aggregate and remelt applications, although no specific change in the percentage split is put forward.Currently, of the glass recycled, 63% of recycled must be processed through remelt applications, with the remaining 37% sent to aggregate.
The five options put forward for consultation are as follows:
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The consultation runs until Friday January 17 2013 and seeks responses from England, Scotland and Wales.
Defra has been expected to launch a consultation on the issue for some time. Earlier this month, Defra sent out a letter to stakeholders apologising for any inconvenience caused by holding the consultation over Christmas period.
- To view the consultation, click here.
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