The Packaging Sector Policy Reforms
March 01, 2023
It is just the beginning of a huge period of transition. If we are serious about reducing the carbon footprint of our sector then we need everyone working together to remove plastics destined for residual treatment, through enhanced collection and sorting systems and we need to invest and develop a mix of mechanical and chemical recycling systems that will allow us to deal with the currently untapped plastics – flexibles in particular. government is that it finally delivers on its promises in terms of the policy reforms and implementation plans. My ask for the sector is that we get behind the reforms and we work as a value chain on delivering the new systems, services and solutions, and that we openly learn lessons and share findings as we go. This isn’t the end of the policy reforms, With a raft of legislation coming in to increase recycling rates of traditionally easier-to-recycle materials, don’t lose sight of the importance of creating sustainable solutions for the products and packaging that are hard-to-recycle. A key area of opportunity is reuse, as championed by our reuse platform Loop. Reuse is becoming increasingly popular, and with consumer awareness around the waste crisis still on the up, the expectation in the near future will likely be to go above and beyond the legislation already in the pipeline. Reuse has the potential to meet this expectation.
