The study comes amidst concerns in the metals and glass sector that not enough of their packaging products are being collected from household waste.
Funded primarily by Valpak, the largest packaging waste compliance scheme, the project – known as PackFlow – is also supported by the Waste and Resources Action Programme and materials streams through Corus Steel Packaging, and the trade associations for glass, plastic bottles and aluminium cans.
”We will be looking at material-specific issues, process and capacity issue“
– Steve Gough – Valpak chief executive
Valpak said that the report “is being compiled in order to promote a more cohesive approach to recycling and to help all industry sectors work from the same standpoint on waste flow with a view to achieving EU targets to be met by 2008.”
The study comes against a background of disparate data on recycling levels both for local authorities and for specific materials. The PackFlow project is described as aiming to pull together for the first time “information from Local Authorities, materials organisations, government and industry, in order to track recycling levels across the country.”
Valpak chief executive Steve Gough explained: “We will be looking at material-specific issues, process and capacity issues and understanding what measures need to be introduced to ensure we meet future recycling targets. Packaging waste and household recovery and recycling targets are becoming tougher than ever, and the best way to meet them is for all sections of industry to work together to a common goal. By setting up the PackFlow project we aim to do exactly that and the response from our partner organisations has been excellent.”
” We do recognise that there are materials which have issues with growth “
– Duncan Simpson – Valpak general manager Scotland Duncan Simpson, Valpak's general manager for Scotland who is responsible for the project, said that the aim was to “provide data on a grand scale including figures from all the materials organisations as well as details about household collections, what materials are collected and how.”
Issues
He confirmed that the data will help Valpak, material organisations and other parties work out what needs to be done over the next few years in terms of collection of materials from households. “We do recognise that there are materials which have issues with growth going forward, such as metals and glass and you do find them in the domestic waste stream.”
Completion of the project is due by the end of February 2005 and data is expected to be made widely available.
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