Recycling
The Packaging Waste Regulations came into force on 6 March 1997. These new regulations are the UK Government’s approach to meeting the recycling and recovery targets as set out in the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. The aim is to recover 50% of the 8 million tons of packaging waste produced in the UK. It is estimated that the cost is likely to be 2p per £10 of every shopping bill.
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Business are effected if they fall into the following categories
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Converting raw materials into packaging
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Packing or filling packaging
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Selling packaging or packaged products to the final user or consumer
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They own and handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging materials or packaging each year.
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Manufacturing raw materials used for packaging
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They have an annual turnover of more than £2 million (from 1 January 2000)
Each stage in the process will be responsible for a percentage of the turnover - raw material manufacturers 6%, converters 9%, packer/fillers 37% and sellers 48%. However, each business is only responsible for the packaging waste passed on to the next company/person in the supply chain, eg a distributor or wholesaler would be responsible for the cardboard boxes delivered to the retailer (although the rules do exempt packaging materials which are reused a certain number of times which is one of the reasons why reusable cartons for many deliveries and returns should be under consideration), a retailer would be responsible for the shrink wrapping and paper or carrier bag passed on to a consumer and so on. In addition, packaging recovered from the ’back door’ can be included in the obligation. All businesses subject to the regulations have to register and provide data, either as an individual company or through an approved collective scheme which issue Packaging Recovery Notes, known as PRNs. The initial date for registration was31 August 1997, with an annual renewal following on from the beginning of April every year. Fees for registration are £950 per annum
