Valpak, the largest compliance scheme in the UK, believes urgent action is needed to tackle businesses that are not carrying out their legal obligation to recycle packaging waste.
All companies with a turnover above 2 million or those that handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year have to pay for the recycling of their share of packaging waste under the UK regulations. This can be carried out by purchasing packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) either through a compliance scheme like Valpak, or independently.
But, Valpak is concerned that the companies avoiding this obligation are effectively increasing costs for those that are operating legally. The scheme says its members should not have to shoulder the burden for companies operating outside the law in order to reach UK business recycling targets.
Valpak's concerns come as the scheme was criticised by an unnamed member company in the Daily Telegraph yesterday for the “rising cost of compliance”. The paper also reported on Valpak's activities while under the control of chief executive Jonson Cox, who left the compliance scheme in January this year.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, chief executive Steve Gough said that he had spoken to environment minister Elliot Morley, who had raised the possibility of a standard for compliance schemes. The standard would focus on the quality of data submissions the compliance schemes make to the Agency. Mr Gough said with a standard in place, the Agency would need less time checking data provided by schemes, freeing up resources to go after companies flouting the packaging regulations.
By cutting out free riders, Valpak believes the gap between targets the UK faces from Europe and the slightly higher targets that obligated businesses face in order to reach those UK targets will be narrowed.
Mr Gough said: “If we can make or influence changes to reduce that gap, our members will benefit, it reduces the costs of compliance. Any activity that catches free riders or makes the system more robust we will support.
“We feel that a huge amount of effort is going into the Agency checking data, and rather than checking our data that we have already checked, more resources could go towards catching free riders.”
Telegraph
The article in the Telegraph yesterday contained a ferocious attack from the Valpak member, which suggested that membership costs were too high because of staff salaries, the scheme's 1 million relocation to Stratford and the buying and selling of subsidiaries.
An unnamed firm wrote to the Daily Telegraph complaining at the non-profit organisation, which it said “generally plays at being a commercial enterprise, when all it is doing really is taking subscriptions from 'real' businesses who are legally obliged to use it”.
And, it complained about costs to members including the 468,000 salary of former chief executive Jonson Cox, who left to become CEO of Anglian Water earlier this year. Mr Jonson's salary was almost twice that of previous Valpak CEO John Turner.
Adding salaries, pensions and other benefits, the average cost to members for a Valpak employee was 65,000 according to the 2003 accounts.
Response
Responding to the concerns, Valpak said Jonson Cox had achieved cost-cutting measures that mean the 2002 operating costs of 8.7m are predicted to be about 6m this year. The scheme said Mr Cox's salary had been “benchmarked by consultants to reflect his role”.
Mr Gough told letsrecycle.com that the Telegraph had been wrong to suggest Valpak would be making acquisitions in the near future. He said that the scheme's expansion would be organic, through an expansion of the services available to members, such as the move into waste electronics compliance.
The Valpak chief executive also responded to the claim that Valpak was playing at being a commercial enterprise, saying: “We represent some of the biggest companies in the UK, I strongly refute that (comment), this is not a game.”
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