UK plastics makers counter packaging waste claims

15 November 2006 11:57  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Plastics makers on Wednesday reacted to a growing backlash in the UK against plastic packaging.

Trade group the British Plastics Federation (BPF) said it would request a meeting with the Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw following remarks he made to the media about excessive supermarket packaging. 

The minister had called on consumers to leave over-packaging at the checkout and had expressed particular hostility towards plastic packaging following a meeting with UK retailers on their progress on minimising waste, the BPF said.

“The Minister's remarks combined with recent retailer activity suggest they may not appreciate the full picture in terms of the benefits of plastics,” BPF Director General Peter Davis said.

The Minister's sole focus on waste and minimisation in consumer packaging does not do justice to the contribution which plastics packaging makes, not merely to retailers' own modus operandi, but also to the economy, society and the environment as a whole, the trade group added.

It said the environmental impact of packaging, regardless of material, is usually dwarfed by the impact of the goods inside the packaging.

By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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