So it seems the Environment Agency is going to get tough over non-compliance with the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (p9). In December Cobra Beer was fined £25,000 and joined the list of companies that have been prosecuted for breaches of the packaging legislation since it was introduced in 1997.
Contrast that and the efforts of the packaging industry to get its house in order, against the continued fudging on climate change as seen at the Kyoto protocol conference in Bali and it indicates just how far packaging and its suppliers have come in facing up to their responsibilities to the environment.
Only a year before when an Early Day Motion had been laid down in the Commons recognising packaging’s achievements in use of resources and recycling, the retiring head of the Packaging Federation Ian Dent commented it was the first motion in Parliament in favour of, rather than against, packaging.
In this issue we report on how the global market for biodegradable polymers is growing at 17.3% a year and that new plants continue to be planned and constructed. Marks & Spencer has launched a new retail pack featuring a significant recycled component in a polyester tray and for the first time within the lidding film. It has been introduced as part of M&S’s 100 point ‘eco-plan’ to reduce waste and the weight of its packaging.
Sears, one of the world’s largest retailers, is to cease using PVC while the Green Pallet Company has officially opened its factory near Peterborough making recyclable pallets and pallet boxes from recycled paper board.
In our sleeves and sleeving feature one industry figure makes the point that compostable PLA films have moved from the experimental and the pilot project to full-scale production and availability.
All this while 10,000 government officials sunned themselves in air-conditioned luxury at public expense on the other side of the globe.
Robin Meade
