Paul Empson, general manager for bakery equipment company, Bakers Basco, says a circular economy ‘will never work’ if officials continue to turn a ‘blind eye’.
The UK Government has vowed to set legally binding targets to clean up the UK through a framework that “specifically supports the UK and its priorities”. It promises to ensure that all plastic packaging in the UK will be recyclable or reusable by 2025, along with eliminating “all avoidable waste” of any kind by 2050.
That’s according to a new report entitled ‘The Benefits of Brexit: How the UK is taking advantage of leaving the EU’, which laid out plans for “delivering cleaner air for all” and “reducing waste to create a circular economy”.
Banning the sale of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds, and increasing the plastic bag charge to 10p across all retailers are, of course, important steps in the fight against climate change. But for the circular economy to wholly work, it has to go beyond domestic waste. There’s a darker side of the plastics industry being overlooked that is preventing any progress towards a circular economy – and officials are still turning a blind eye to it.
There’s a darker side of the plastics industry being overlooked that is preventing any progress towards a circular economy – and officials are still turning a blind eye to it.
A clampdown on plastics is key to the climate change fight, rightly pointed out by EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius, amid preparations for the UN Environment Assembly Summit starting in Nairobi on Feb 28th. And, he spoke of how restricting virgin plastic production was “inevitably an important part” of a global treaty.
We’ve long talked about the benefits of a circular economy, promoting environmental policies to reuse and recycle, and ensuring that every product is as sustainable as possible.
Plastic returnable transit packaging (RTP) like our Omega bread basket was designed from 100% virgin plastic as a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly solution for bakeries to deliver bread and other baked goods across the UK. It’s sturdy, reusable and it’s recycled once it reaches its 12 year life span – contributing in a positive way to the circular economy.
Plastic packaging
The Government wants all plastic packaging to be reusable by 2025. For us and many businesses like ours, we’ve already got a reusable plastic packaging solution that we’ve been using for many years.
We’re trying to contribute positively to the circular economy. Yet it’s not 100% working and that’s because people are stealing the equipment and illegally grinding up the plastic, taking it out of the circular economy. What’s more, after this process has taken place, it’s going back to legal companies in the UK – whether they know it or not.
The problem is there’s no audit trail. That law has to be tightened. Where’s the law enforcement or fines for recycling reusable plastics? If baskets are stolen, who do we go to? The police aren’t interested, they see it as a civil matter rather than a police matter.
By ignoring this illegal activity which is so rife across the country, they are preventing businesses on their mission to work towards a circular economy – not least because we then have to produce more to be able to replace what’s going missing.
The Government wants all plastic packaging to be reusable by 2025. For us and many businesses like ours, we’ve already got a reusable plastic packaging solution that we’ve been using for many years.
So, what’s the answer? The report lays out some important issues that play into this but where are the legally binding targets that look at the illegal trade of plastic? We need traceable evidence of where the plastic is coming from and how it was obtained.
Anybody buying plastic chippings in the UK should be legally bound to request a solid audit trail of where that plastic is coming through, and it should be invoiced through company books, not through the back door for cash.
These companies only exist in business because it’s too easy for them. If they can’t sell it, they will stop stealing the plastic equipment in the first place. If they’ve got the autonomy to do what they want, then they will continue to do it.
There are two sides to this: as citizens, we can do more with how we handle household waste recycling. But then there’s the illegal side of it which is being ignored. That’s what’s wrong – and until something is done about it, that’s why a circular economy seems unlikely to work.
If you’ve got something to say about this opinion piece or would like to submit your own for consideration, email the editor at darrel.moore@ciwm.co.uk
