The Bristol-based compliance scheme, whose members include major brands such as Britvic, Mars, innocent and FujiFilm, plans to “shake up” the PRN system by making it clear where the estimated £100 million generated through PRNs is invested each year.
The company’s ‘Circularety’ project – which will launch in London in September 2016 – aims to enable obligated producers to seek out approved reprocessors and invest their obligated PRN money in ‘concrete projects’.
Under the Packaging Waste Regulations, obligated producers are required to pay towards packaging recycling by buying evidence in the form of packaging recovery notes (PRNs) from reprocessors or exporters.
This money is then fed back into areas including developing recycling infrastructure and capacity, helping councils to fund communications strategies and collections, and paving way for new markets.
Scrutiny
But the system has come under increased scrutiny in recent years as both producers and reprocessors argue there is little evidence to show where the money is spent. This has led the Advisory Committee on Packaging to consider amending the funding categories to create more transparency (see letsrecycle.com story).
According to ecosurety, ‘Circularety’ will provide a system to enable producers to see exactly where their money goes, while choosing specific projects that will benefit the recycling industry. In turn, the system will also allow reprocessors to ‘easily plan’ infrastructure projects.
In return, ecosurety can validate the success of the investment, which a producer can then use to prove their environmental credentials.
Responsibility
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, James Piper, managing director of the business, said: “The work that the PRN system does is excellent and one of the best in Europe, as it places responsibility across the supply chain. Technically it’s an example of extended producer responsibility because it’s putting the onus on the producer, but it needs to edge that way more. If you were to speak to producers they still look at it as a tax, when they need to see it as an investment in recycling.”
“As it stands there is little accountability, and no detailed requirement on reprocessors to show how they spend that money”
James Piper, managing director
ecosurety
He added: “I don’t think there’s a need for price volatility. In the main, producers are happy to spend money and reprocessors are happy to receive money, so why does it need to fluctuate so much? Today a plastic PRN can be bought for £25 per tonne but last year it stood at £75. This volatility goes against our need to build upon recycling infrastructure because the market prices are set by a perceived supply and demand balance, which could be controlled.”
“As it stands there is little accountability, and no detailed requirement on reprocessors to show how they spend that money. As a country we are just required to report into six categories but that’s not good enough.”
The project is due to be launched at a reception in central London on 27 September. For more details visit www.circularety.com.
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