Get engaged

In the latest instalment of his exclusive column for BP&R, Director-General of the BPF, Philip Law, urges plastics companies to engage with their local MPs, reflects on the potential of a double plastics tax and looks ahead to upcoming events. 

In this year’s Annual Dinner speech, BPF’s President, Martin Althorpe, majored on the need for plastics industry firms to establish better contact with their local Members of Parliament.  

Indeed, it has been alarming to see MPs with plastics industry firms in their constituencies rush to sign Early Day Motions and other petitions seeking to limit, even ban, plastic products. There’s certainly an element of wanting to or having to run both with the hares and the hounds here, but in many cases the root cause is sheer ignorance. We have to compete for their attention alongside Mrs Jones of Acacia Avenue with her mortgage problems. The difference is that a plastics company employs a lot of people and funds a lot of mortgages. We can’t emphasise enough the importance of getting the MP into your plant to understand the dynamics of your business and social and environmental benefits of its products.

BPF took a great initiative when, on 13th September, we organised a round table of key members in the Wilton area which was joined by local MPs Andy McDonald, Shadow Transport Minister; Anna Turley; and Simon Clarke, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasurer – in fact the man in charge of developing the plastics packaging tax. This was highly successful and forcefully made the point that plastics are a vital part of the local economy in Teeside. The politicians were given a tour of the local Biffa plastics recycling plant. More sessions are planned in areas where there are concentrations of member firms in one constituency.

We have a wealth of information for you to play into meetings with MPs. BPF members have been recently sent a copy of ‘Understanding the Plastics Debate’ which positions the industry as a progressive force, capable of change and as part of the solution. It gives the Government recommendations on the framing of the proposed packaging tax and encourages science rather than emotion in the debate. It’s received many plaudits for its contribution. Download it from the BPF website, www.bpf.co.uk

It is likely that we will not be alone in having a plastics packaging tax.  An idea has been generating in Brussels for months that the European Commission will allow Member States to tax unrecycled plastics packaging to provide Brussels with financial contributions to fill the hole in the EU’s budget vacated by Brexit. Needless to say, this will be resisted as the last thing we want is to be hit by a double whammy of a charge in the UK plus the consequences of a charge in the rest of the EU. In fact, BPF itself has just launched a design tool created to enable a higher level of recycling of plastics packaging. 

‘Packscore’, on which there is a full feature on pages 46-47 of the October print issue of BP&R, will help retailers, brands and manufacturers to evaluate the recyclability and broader sustainability of the packaging they are proposing.  It is supported by RECOUP and draws on ‘Recyclass’ and Berry International’s design guides.

Meanwhile, post-Brexit, we will look forward to seeing you at our annual recycling seminar on 7th November at the Squire Patton Boggs office in London. This will be followed by ‘Accelerating Innovation in PVC’ at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on 19th November, and a BPF Packaging Seminar will be held at BPF House on 28th November.