Increased PRN capacity
Between now and 2008 it is expected that producers will have to extract more packaging waste from the household waste stream in order to meet the increasing recovery and recycling targets.
Producers will therefore need to work with local authorities (for example, through their packaging compliance schemes and/or accredited reprocessors/exporters) to ensure that packaging materials can be collected for recycling, particularly where producers’ needs extend beyond the local authorities’ own recycling obligations.
Revised recovery and recycling targets for 2006 to 2008 and indicative targets for 2009 and 2010 have been set.
It was necessary to amend the previously set targets (published in 2003) following changes to underlying data, in particular the amounts of packaging entering the UK waste stream. But the targets also needed to be revised to take account of other changes being made this year, i.e. those designed to bring more packaging into the regulations, such as that associated with lessors, licensors, pub operating companies and companies operating similar business models.
The UK system has been successful in increasing the levels of packaging waste recovered and recycled from 30% in 1997 to 55.6% by 2004. In real terms, the total amount of packaging waste recovered and recycled in 1998 was 3.3 million tonnes; in 2004, it was almost 5.65 million tones therefore over 2.3 million tonnes of additional packaging waste was diverted from landfill in 2004 compared with 1998.
Integrated Polymers has been recently approved by the Environment Agency as an accredited reprocessor of packaging waste. The new BAT washing and extrusions lines installed at Capital Valley in South Wales are believed to be the only plant capable of handling the more heavily contaminated end of plastic packaging waste i.e. food contaminated films collected by local authorities or fertilizer bags from farmers. Further expansion is planned for Integrated Polymers with a plastic bottles being targeted.
In addition, Evolution Brokerage has also now been approved as an accredited exporter of packaging materials such as aluminium, steel and plastics for recycling outside the UK.
These two accreditations will help further the UK to achieve its recovery and recycling targets and both have a focus on the household waste stream for packaging material streams.
Both Evolution and Integrated Polymers are central to the group of companies formed under the Recycling in Action banner.
