Packaging is an important component for the safe transport of products, including timber, yet it is also a major contributor to waste production in the UK. Source: Timberbiz
To tackle this problem, and incentivise better, more efficient use of packaging, including reuse and recycling, the UK Government has introduced some major legislative changes.
Timber Development UK, to help members get to grips with these changes, commissioned Valpak to do a deep dive into what this means for the timber supply chain.
Some of the key insights included in the report are:
- Under the proposed Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations, more businesses will be captured and they will face greater cost, as compared with the current regime.
- Businesses with a turnover equal to, or greater than, £1 million, and handling packaging of 25 tonnes or more, must complete bi-annual reporting.
- The government predicts that under this new regime the overall financial costs for producers will rise from £230 million to £1.7 billion, as it seeks to recover 100% of recycling packaging costs (up from 7%).
- The new Plastic Packaging Tax, which came into force on 1 April 2022, means producers or importers of plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic will be taxed an additional £200 per tonne.
- This tax applies to all business importing or manufacturing 10 tonnes or more of finished plastic packaging components within a 12-month period.
- Businesses that import or manufacture less than 10 of taxable packaging over a 12-month period must keep detailed records to prove to HMRC they do not quality for the tax.
- Businesses can mitigate costs from these changes by making use of easily recycled packaging, recovering packaging waste themselves, of through reusable packaging.
Readers of the report will gain insight into how they may be able to mitigate the impact of the change in regulations on their businesses, as well as the timeline for change.
The full report, ‘The current and prospective packaging waste regulations: As they apply to the timber trade’ can be downloaded Timber Development UK Technical Paper – Plastic Packaging – 310522.
