The aluminium packaging recycling organisation's concern was expressed in response to the changes to the PRN system announced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs last week (see letsrecycle.com story).
DEFRA is to charge a 500 fee for reprocessors who issue fewer than 400 PRNs or export PRNs (PERNs) a year, while those issuing more than 400 PRNs a year are charged 2,590 for accreditation.
A statement from Alupro said that the 400 tonne threshold for fees would have a “serious impact on the number of companies which will remain accredited to the system”.
Speaking on behalf of Alupro, John Wells warned that companies processing just over 400 tonnes would end up paying accreditation fees the equivalent of 5 on every PRN they issued. He said that with the accreditation requirements of preparing business plans and going through external audits, reprocessors may start to “wonder why they should remain involved” after a “disastrous 2003 for PRN prices”.
Decimated
Mr Wells, who works for Cheshire-based aluminium recycler FE Mottram, said: “It is essential that a proper working relationship be established between reprocessors, the packaging chain and the Environment Agency if recycling rates are not going to be decimated in some sectors as a result of de-registration.
“We would invite government to think again, and introduce several fee bands to take account of the different sizes of company involved, and the extent of their involvement with packaging recycling. The bands should perhaps be set at 400, 800, 1,200 and 2,000 tonnes, and could be subject to review in 2006 when, if confidence in the system has been restored, costs could be re-considered,” Mr Wells added.
Compliance scheme Wastepack has also expressed concerns that the 400 tonne threshold will be a barrier to recycling in the UK.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Wastepack communications director Mike Beard said: “If a reprocessor is reprocessing just under 400 tonnes and sees the opportunity to go just over – which we need – they'll be deterred from doing that because of the sharp rise in accreditation fee. But we need all the activity we can get to achieve the targets.”
Targets
Responding to the new targets set by DEFRA for packaging waste recovery in the five years from 2004-2008 (see letsrecycle.com story), Alupro said it was pleased with the straight-line increases towards the aluminium business target of 35% in 2008.
Nigel Gibbon, Alupro chairman, said: “The aluminium industry wants the highest possible recycling rate, as we have the reprocessing capacity and end-markets for plain aluminium to support any amount of collection. The challenge now is for the two neglected waste streams – domestic and away-from-home (schools, the workplace and travel) – to get the infrastructure boost they need.”
However Wastepack, the UK's second largest compliance scheme, said it was “surprised” that the level of the 2004-08 targets was higher than the scenarios set out in DEFRA's consultation paper.
Mike Beard said: “It would be interesting to know who asked for these higher targets. The government had two different proposals to be considered, both of which were 61% for the overall targets (in 2004). Now they're saying it's going to be 63%. In our opinion, the targets are higher than they need to be in order to achieve a smooth transition from current levels to those required in 2008. We feel strongly that customers are getting a bad deal out of this consultation.”
“Who are the people who asked for these increases beyond the original proposals? They should come forward and explain why,” he added.
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