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14/05/13

UK glass and plastic recycling continues to fall

The EA packaging recycling data for Q1-2013 shows a poor quarter for glass and plastic recycling. Since last year glass recycling has fallen particularly within the UK melt trade which fell by 24K tonnes. During Q1 a total of 327K tonnes of glass was recycling, of which 163K tonnes was classed as UK melt and 62K tonnes was classed as export.
Historically UK glass melt has remained steady, but with the Q1 fall in the total tonnage it puts glass recycling in a delicate predicament for the future. Due to the unsteady recycling outlook it is important that companies who have a glass obligation to ensure security with their compliance scheme to receive the best available PRNs. However, the PRN values will be difficult to gauge until all 2013 packaging waste obligation data has been gathered.
Plastic recycling targets are due to increase 5% year on year until 2017. Compared with glass there was a smaller drop in the recycling totals during Q1-2013 but in comparison with last year, the UK would have to recycle 165K tonnes of plastic this year to comply with the set targets. The 5% increase each year will drive up demand for PRNs but similar to glass, the full extent of how much this will increase will become apparent once the obligated data has been published.
For glass and plastic in particular it looks like it will be an expensive year ahead for PRN values. If you require any additional information about the packaging waste regulations and changes in PRN values, please get in touch.

 

14/03/13

LGA suggests introduction of a new Packaging Levy

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE: the motto that is now law. Legislation in packaging waste is at the forefront, with sustainability becoming an ever more important feature of all UK businesses. What legislation could be introduced to comply with the Waste Framework Directive and the UK’s recycling targets?

A new packaging levy

Deputy chair Local Government Association’s (LGA) environment board, Clyde Loakes, used  the launch of a ‘Local Waste Review’ to propose that the Government should introduce a new ‘packaging levy’ in order to get a grip on packaging. He stated: “multinational companies are burdening local authorities with excess costs from excess packaging.”

Councillor Loakes has gone to print on this, suggesting another tax should be put in place in order to help Local Authorities to hit their recycling targets. It is not the only Government body to back the idea, with various other bodies wanting an extra packaging levy or tax applied so as to help increase recycling.

Conflict with current legislation

The introduction of this packaging levy would be an additional tax to the current Packaging Waste Directive ‘packaging waste tax’ that many businesses already pay. If your business has an annual turnover of £2M and generates 50 tonnes of packaging waste a year, you are obligated to pay a tax based on the amount of packaging you enter into the UK waste stream. This tax itself is likely to increase as the UK aims to keep up with the ever increasing recycling targets.

The Packaging Society

Please follow this link to a letter written by The Packaging Society chairman, Tony Hancock, urging Councillor Loakes to reassess his idea and look at ways to increase revenues generated from waste separation in order to meet recycling targets. By just adding another tax on top does not generate a long term plan to ensure targets are met.

The Packaging Society suggests that instead of another packaging levy, Local Authorities could raise more revenue from packaging waste than is currently generated. As an example, although more weights are collected by co-mingling recycling, the inclusion of glass in co-mingled collections results in a high proportion of glass being sent for aggregate, generating a much lower price than colour separated glass. The Packaging Society believes that this problem will not be satisfactorily resolved until Local Authorities are targeted to recycle specific amounts of material rather than just divert from landfill.

Is this just a new source of revenue for the LGA in tough economic times, or does it offer a genuine and practical solution?

What do you think? Can recycling targets be met without the need for further taxation? Should the Government introduce a packaging levy to rouse more activity in recycling? Let us know.

 

 

18/02/13

Hardy & Greys, a North East based fishing firm, outsourced production of a range of its fishing reels to Korea seven years ago and are now arranging to bring it back to Alnwick.
The move to offshore production came about due to the favourable reel unit cost. However, with the far eastern supply chain, higher stocks were required due to minimum order quantities and the quality of the products was inconsistent.
Operations and HR Director, Dave Douglas, spoke about the move back to the UK, commenting that: “The advantage to the business is that when working on smaller volumes which are more relevant to our sell through in the trade, the manufacturing costs are broadly similar. We do not have so much inconsistency on quality and it is much easier to manage the supply dynamics.”
Outpace have been working with Hardy & Greys for the last 4 years, collating their packaging waste data and WEEE data to comply with the UK Packaging Waste Directive, and maintaining the efficiency of their annual submission.

 

13/02/13

PRN prices for week ending 8th February 2013
As reported by the packagingnews.co.uk website, here are the latest PRN prices taken from the PRN trading platform the Environment Exchange. These prices were correct for wk ending 8th February:

	Current	1 Week Ago	1 Month Ago	1 Year Ago
Aluminium	5.30	9.95	4.75	4.00
Glass	-	62.49	75.00	-
Paper	0.85	2.20	0.98	0.82
Plastic	15.25	3.39	6.50	4.95
Steel	14.56	10.00	17.52	4.00
Wood	1.60	1.77	1.50	1.10
Recovery	0.25	0.30	0.30	0.31

 Click here for more information on current PRN prices and the increases that have been recently observed.

 

22/01/13

PRN prices continue to rise
Over the last quarter packaging recovery note (PRN) prices have risen sharply. Compared to prices 12 months ago for the same packaging types, it is clear that many of the prices have rocketed in recent times. Could this be a common occurrence for the next few years; continued increases for all packaging materials?
Whereas metal, glass and paper have a traditional end user market, plastics are still in the development stages for recycling opportunities. As such, plastic PRNs have had a considerable problem. At present, the majority of plastic waste is exported. The new plastic recycling target has increased over the next five years to levels that will make it extremely difficult to achieve. The following scenario could potentially occur, causing plastic PRN values to explode.

 Current practice and possible future
At the moment, the UK recycles 600,000 tonnes of obligated plastics packaging annually, of which 170,000 remains in the UK and 430,000 tonnes is exported. Currently, the export PRN money does not support the recycling infrastructure in the UK and as such, an increase in existing targets will inevitably result in more plastic packaging materials being exported.
By 2017, using the 2013 targets, the UK will be required to recycle 1,218,000 tonnes of plastics, of which 170,000 tonnes in the UK and 1,048,800 tonnes for export.  With the added possible scenario of the export market slowing down, this would result in the UK requiring an end user market for over 1,000,000 tonnes of post consumer recycled plastics annually. If the capability to handle this much plastic recycling is not available, how can the industry cope with the increased volume over the next five years? If we consider the estimated increase of plastics PRN values for 2013 reaching up to £50 per tonne, that would seem a fairly reasonable rate for the next few years. However, these PRNs are likely to increase to astronomical rates as the market changes.
For more information on PRN values and the changes in legislation and recycling targets, please contact Tim Hutchinson on 01642 466617 or by email on tim.hutchinson@outpace.co.uk

 

07/01/13

Circular Economy is set to help UK businesses become sustainable and save money

What does circular economy mean for businesses across the UK and indeed the rest of the world? In the current economy every company will be looking for ways to save money and the extremely simple process of re-use is a key concept. The Outpace developed ‘Carrierpac’ is one ‘reusabsle’ solution adopted by B&Q, demonstrating their commitment to circular economy.
The recent Paper presented by Chief Executive of home improvement retailer Kingfisher, Ian Cheshire, and Ellen MacArthur, the youngest person and fastest woman to sail around the world, was given in Davos to a global audience. It is the Foundation’s second report into the circular economy – for the full report please visit www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/business/reports/.
 According to the B&Q Corporate Affairs Manager: “This report is a massive step on from last year’s and although it is long, it is easily readable and very clearly sets out a credible business case for the transition towards a circular economy, whilst cleverly blending that with the CSR and climate change agenda.”
 Outpace are delighted that their multi-trip packaging used by B&Q since 2008 actually gets an indirect mention in the report. Since 2008 B&Q have adopted ‘Carrierpac’ for delivery of its kitchen worktops, followed in 2011 by ‘Longspacs’ for other kitchen items. Collectively this has saved B&Q several million pounds and diverted over 7,000 tonnes of single-trip packaging from the waste stream.
If you would like more information on the ‘Carrierpac’ and ‘Longspacs’, please visit www.carrierpac.co.uk. Alternatively, please call Tim Hutchinson on 01642 466617 or email mailto:mtim.hutchinson@outpace.co.uk.

 

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