The manifesto focuses on enabling the plastics recycling sector to meet the government’s low carbon manufacturing ambitions, which are central to meeting aspirations of a circular economy and resource efficiency.
A series of policies have been put forward which focus on driving the use of increased volumes of recycled plastics in UK manufacturing to create wealth and employment.
The group’s flagship policy seeks to distinguish recycling in the local UK and EU market from that which is exported outside Europe.
BPFRG said this could be achieved through the existing PRN/PERN mechanism, so that there is a progressive weighting towards increased local recycling year on year.
The EU has called for a review of its waste strategy through to 2013. It has also proposed landfill bans and substantially higher recycling targets for municipal waste and packaging materials.
Roger Baynham, chairman of the BPF’s Recycling Group, said that the manifesto’s proposals are designed to provide a route to delivering the best environmental outcomes from plastic waste, and are set to create low carbon manufacturing jobs in the vanguard of the circular economy.
“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.”
