New regs: take heed
THE PLASTIC PACKAGING TAX, to be implemented from 1 April 2022, will levy £200 per tonne on all plastic packaging materials made or imported to the UK that contain less than 30% recyclate.
“TO MEET the 30% recyclate target across the board, the capacity of the plastic recycling industry would have to increase by 100%, which isn’t going to happen any time soon. So many packaging users will either pay the tax, or will have to switch to cardboard,” says Jo Bradley, business development manager for packaging solutions at Quadient.
“The cardboard supply market is already under stress, and this will have a further impact. Retailers and shippers will need to act now to optimise their use of an increasingly valuable commodity.”
The second, and more profound, change has recently closed its second round of consultation. This is the proposed introduction, in phases from 2023, of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. EPR is an approach endorsed by the OECD and increasingly being implemented by countries worldwide. Under EPR, producers – which means packers, shippers and retailers as well as material manufacturers – pay the full costs of dealing with the waste they produce.
Jo continues: “ Ecommerce companies would be wise to look to the advantages of automated packaging systems, such as Quadient’s CVP Everest and CVP Impack, which can make right-sized cardboard boxes for each individual order at phenomenal rates. These machines can cut, fold, erect, pack and seal boxes of just the right size for each order (of single or multiple items) at rates of up to 1,100 packages per hour – equivalent to around 20 manual packers.”
For more information, visit www.quadient.com
