Valpak met customers’ 2010 packaging waste obligations, reported the company in January.
Steve Gough, Valpak’s CEO, in what he calls an ‘interesting’ year, says: “Glass prices have risen in the last month, which we believe to be related to investigations reported by the Environment Agency and a slowdown in glass collections due to the bad weather in December. The Packaging Waste Recovery Note system responded to this reduction in supply by causing prices to rise late in the year. This is the system doing its job as it was designed to subsidise the market when growth is required.”
Despite the recession in 2009 and a reduction in packaging reported by obligated companies, Valpak’s obligation share grew marginally. Mr Gough explains: “Valpak’s membership consists of a number of retailers and brand names who continued to increase their sales in 2009. We also managed to recruit some new customers during 2010. This is particularly satisfying as the market is very competitive. We needed to deliver competitive pricing at levels to sustain recycling across all materials. This was especially the case for glass and plastic.”
He added: “Our eyes are now firmly on 2011 and 2012. We are watching market developments closely and we are fully participating in the Government review, which enables us to provide insight as to how changes may support packaging minimisation, recycling and recovery in the UK. It is our aim to ensure that any changes that take place will benefit those who are truly recovering and recycling packaging waste. And that any changes will support the continued growth and performance of packaging recycling in the UK.”
