BG Response to the Packaging Strategy

In response to the Government’s recently released Packaging Strategy “Making the most of packaging”, David Workman, Director General of British Glass said that he ”welcomed the approach taken but that there were still a lot of areas that needed to be discussed in detail if the UK was to be able to progress further.

“The proposal to move away from weight-based targets when assessing the environmental impact of packaging has been an issue that British Glass has been lobbying on for some time and one we endorse. There are some concerns, highlighted in the Strategy, that some measures do not take into account the whole life-cycle impacts. British Glass believes that ‘fit for purpose’ and health considerations should also be included. “

Re Use

Re-useable glass containers have been in existence for decades so it has come as no surprise to British Glass that the Strategy highlights re-use as a potential benefit in Optimising packaging. Glass bottles and jars are ideally suited for re-use applications and at the end of life can be recycled closed loop without any loss of quality or purity.

Commercial Streams

For a long time now, the non-collection of glass from commercial streams has been a missed opportunity due to the alleged costs involved in collecting from these premises, even though it could be argued that the material is exactly the same as that found in the domestic waste stream.

David commented, “British Glass has been calling on Defra to address this disconnect for a number of years, especially as the advantage of removing glass from commercial premises is that, in most instances, it is a clean glass stream that can be easily processed.”

Aggregates

British Glass welcomes the recognition in the strategy that reliance on aggregates - whilst being good in terms of the UK meeting EU Directive targets - does not assist the UK in reducing CO2 due to it being open loop recycling.

David said that, “Some may see the use of aggregates as being a solution in assisting local areas with aggregate use. However, they fail to realise that saving a tonne of aggregate quarrying of sand leads to the quarrying of raw materials for the UK glass industry being sourced from at least three different locations.

“On top of that studies have proved that the best environmental use of glass is for it to be returned for remelt and turned back into new bottles and jars – a process that can be repeated indefinitely.  One serious issue facing the UK glass industry is the unprecedented decline in the amount of good quality cullet made available to them over the last few years.”

The increase in aggregate use over the last three years has been dramatic and appears to be increasing as more and more local authorities and waste management companies include glass in commingled collection systems – this had led to a detriment in quality.

David concluded that, “British Glass welcomes the move to consult on options to maximise the carbon benefits of glass packaging recycling either through separate producer responsibility recycling targets by colour or by setting targets for each end market, increasing the target for closed loop uses over time.”

 

Note to Editor

Packaging Strategy

The Government’s Packaging Strategy “Making the most of packaging – A strategy for a low-carbon economy” was published in June 2009 by Defra.