The ‘circular economy’ is a phrase that’s increasingly entering the sustainability lexicon – and it is also a lively topic in the corridors of the UK Houses of Parliament. A couple of weeks ago, the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee published
a reportwhich moves the debate towards public policy solutions and recommendations for action from Government. It calls for more consistency in local authority household recycling collections and a reform of the ‘packaging producer responsibility system’ to incentivise recyclability and the use of recycled-content.
At
Coca-Cola Enterprises(
CCE), we believe that packaging is an important and valuable resource. We’re committed to supporting a circular economy, and we believe there is an opportunity for more packaging to be recycled and re-used for as long as possible.
In 2011, we developed and opened Continuum Recycling together with ECO Plastics– a £15-million plastic recycling facility which has more than doubled the amount of bottle-grade recycled plastic (rPET) previously created in Britain. We welcome the findings of this report and are determined to be part of the solution.
Currently, 70% of our products are consumed in the home. We are the largest user of recycled plastic bottles and cans in the country and have pledged to reduce the materials we use across all packaging by 25%, by 2020. We would like to do more but are still currently limited by the availability of a long-term supply of quality material.
Last year, in a piece of behavioural research conducted by the University of Exeter, we observed that the confusion associated with household recycling, combined with the complexity of Local Authority schemes in the UK, is a major barrier to increase at-home recycling rates. This is consistent with the recent report’s findings which say that businesses find the vast number of localised collection schemes in England confusing, thus making it hard for companies to access valuable material which could be reused. This also prevents consistent on-pack information about a product’s recyclability.
As a business, we have outlined a 5 point plan:
1. We want to see a move in the UK to a more consistent, efficient, best practice local authority recycling collection system– Central Government needs to actively support these discussions with individual Local Autorities and the Local Government Association, along with businesses and others who can play a positive role in this approach.
2. Consumer behaviour change campaigns will only work if local authorities join together for impactful, coordinated and inspiring communications.We need a nationwide business and government-backed consumer-facing behaviour change campaign.
3. The current Producer Responsibility Scheme (PRN) needs to be reformed, in order to:
- Incentivise the design for recyclability of packaging;
- Encourage the use of recycled content;
- Ensure a greater share of PRN money goes to Local Authorities to improve householder recycling communications.
4. Best practice schemes – such as the DEFRA ‘Reward and Recognition Fund’
– need to be implemented as a model by other Local Authorities.
5. Local Authorities need to collaborate more on procurement and service delivery to improve efficiencies, deliver improved service for taxpayers and ensure scalable recyclate quantities.
It is now up to both central and local government to coordinate their efforts in moving towards a circular economy. They then need to play a more active role in working with national businesses to develop solutions. Business is willing and able to support this process, but we can’t do it alone.
You can read our full evidence to the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee inquiry, ‘Growing a circular economy: Ending the throwaway society’
here.
James Clark is Senior Manager for Public Affairs,
CCEGreat Britain