The concerns come in the wake of similar fears voiced by reprocessors of a range of materials because of new accreditation rules implemented by the Environment Agency.
The issue revolves around a new timetable and accreditation regime for overseas reprocessors – such as paper mills or steel works – which use recovered material exported from the UK.
For 2005, only reprocessors which have registered by the end of September 2004 and supplied their list of merchant or company suppliers from the UK will be able to issue export-PRNs. The PRNs have a value and are used as evidence to prove packaging recycling has taken place in conformity to the UK regulations. They are usually given to the UK exporter as part of the payment for the material and can have a value typically of 10-20 per tonne.
Merchants have told letsrecycle.com that it is difficult to forecast in advance exactly to whom they may sell material in 2005. One said: “We do have a regular business with a number of mills in the Far East but it is quite likely that we may sell to someone new next year. Not receiving the export-PRN for OCC (used cardboard) may mean that the deal is not worthwhile.”
Another accused the Environment Agency of adopting a process which may mean that cardboard could end up being landfilled in the UK rather than being recycled.
Clarity
Peter Seggie, recovered paper sector manager at the Confederation of Paper Industries, confirmed that the matter had been raised with the Environment Agency. “This is something that the CPI has raised with the Environment Agency in order to get some clarity. It may not always be possible in advance of the year for you to declare who your reprocessors are.”
He continued: “There is an oddity here in that it could be that one exporter has been accepted as exporting to one reprocessor, but another exporter who also sends material to that same reprocessor and is not listed may not count under the rules.”
Mr Seggie said that the industry wanted to know “why this rule has been imposed” and confirmed that some of his members have raised concerns about the effect the ruling may have on the level of recycling. “From the basic information I have this deadline sounds a little bit dubious but before we can come to any formal positions on this we will need to hear the Agency point of view.”
Last week the Environment Agency's Chris Grove argued that since the September 30 date was in the regulations, it was not a matter of the Agency's interpretation. Mr Grove said that as it stood, the Agency could not claim the necessary fee to process accreditations that were not sent in before the September 30 deadline. (see letsrecycle.com story).
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