With the UK Plastic Tax due to be implemented in April 2022 and ambitious recycling targets set out by retailers, the race in changing current packaging for more sustainable alternatives is truly well underway.

With Law Print offering both PE and PP mono-material packaging solutions, it is great to see that not only retailers champion the “return to store” scheme for all polyethylene materials but now Sainsbury’s is also trialling the same scheme for polypropylene films.

UK Plastic Tax

In March 2020, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak laid out plans to introduce the ‘Plastic Packaging Tax’. This tax will come into effect in April 2022.

This is a new tax that applies to plastic packaging produced in or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic. Plastic packaging is packaging that is predominantly plastic by weight.

As a business, you will be required to either prove that your packaging has greater than 30% recycled content, or pay tax at a rate of £200 per tonne.

It is thought that UK producers of plastic packaging, importers of plastic packaging, business customers of producers and importers of plastic packaging, and consumers who buy goods in plastic packaging in the UK will all be affected by this new measure.

Read our full blog on the Plastic Packaging Tax

What is the UK Plastics Pact?

Almost all of the UK’s major supermarket chains have signed up to the UK Plastics Pact, which launched in April 2018.

The pact, led by sustainability experts at WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), aims to tackle plastic waste by bringing together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain, UK governments and NGOs.

More than 120 organisations, including major food and drink brands, manufacturers, retailers and plastic reprocessors, have signed up to hit a series of targets by 2025. These include:

• Eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models
• 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable
• 70% of plastic packaging is effectively recycled or composted
• 30% average recycled content across all plastic packaging

Return to Store Scheme

With the PP recycling scheme, some types of plastic films can be recycled at carrier bag collection points at the larger stores of most major supermarkets including Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, The Co-op and Waitrose. See below for a list of recyclable plastic packaging.

Some councils are beginning to collect carrier bags as part of household recycling schemes; however, this is not a widespread service at the moment. Before putting them in your recycling bin, ask your local council if they are accepted in your area.

Sustainability

In line with supermarkets, and to provide recyclable packaging to our customers, we launched our Ready2Recycle range in 2019. Ready2Recycle is a range of mono material packaging, which have all the features and pack strength you would expect from standard plastic packaging. BOPP and PE/PE packaging, standard in this range, is able to be recycled at supermarkets.

This week, Sainsbury’s has announced plans to introduce a new film recycling system in selected stores, offering customers more recycling options called the PP recycling scheme.

The introduction of an innovative recycling system that allows customers to recycle Polypropylene (PP) film found in several household plastic products, in selected Sainsbury’s stores. The launch of this new recycling system comes as part of Sainsbury’s commitment to increase recycling in its own operations and to make recycling easier for its customers, by offering more facilities to do so in its stores. Last year, the retailer also pledged to halve its use of plastic packaging by 2025 and become net zero in its operations by 2040.

Law Print are pleased to be able to support this with our Ready2Recycle packaging. Below are some of the brands we have worked with, whose PE/PE packaging can be recycled as part of the current “return to store” scheme. Watch this space for our BOPP woven bags when the Sainsbury’s new PP recycling scheme is hopefully rolled out across the UK soon – another big step in the right direction!

If your brand is looking to invest in quality packaging, we will guide you through the entire print process. Providing recommendations along the way to improve efficiency, reduce costs and add untold value to the end product.

Contact us on +44 (0) 161 440 7302 or follow this link to complete our contact form.

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