New recycling manifesto focuses on PRN/PERN reform

The BPF Recycling Group (BPFRG) has today launched a new manifesto for 2014 with a strong message of PRN/PERN system reform for plastics.

The manifesto sets out powerful arguments to enable the plastics recycling sector to meet the Government’s low carbon manufacturing ambitions, which the Group says are central to meeting aspirations of a circular economy and resource efficiency. In the document, the BPFRG proposes a series of policies that focus on driving the use of increased volumes of recycled plastics in UK manufacturing to create wealth and employment.

‘The proposals contained in this manifesto are designed not only to provide a route map to deliver the best environmental outcomes from plastic waste but also to create new low carbon manufacturing jobs in the vanguard of the circular economy,” explained Roger Baynham, Chairman of the BPF’s Recycling Group. “The BPFRG believes the future proofing of markets for waste can only be achieved by ensuring that traction exists to encourage investment in recycling infrastructure and innovation  to develop new markets and applications for recycled plastics.”

The Group’s flagship policy reform is a split on the plastics packaging recycling targets to distinguish recycling in the local market (UK and EU) from that which is exported outside Europe. The Group says it proposes for this to be achieved through the existing PRN/PERN mechanism, such that there is a progressive weighting towards increased local recycling year-on-year.

The manifesto comes at a time when the EU is calling for a fundamental review of its waste strategy through to 2030 and proposing landfill bans and substantially higher recycling targets for municipal waste and packaging materials.