Catherine Beare 0.11
Hello and welcome to this podcast where we're going to take you through more awareness around the new legislation on packaging and waste in the UK.
Responsible and clean manufacturing have become expectations to customers and interested parties within industries. Sustainability in the form of new waste and packaging regulations, together with landfill diversion are important steps to demonstrate environmental stewardship.
In this podcast, we talk to Zoe Spriggs Development Manager with Biffpak about the upcoming legislation on packaging and waste in the UK, what the EPR - extended producer responsibility on packaging means for manufacturers and what they need to do to comply fully with its requirements.
Although absolute zero waste being generated and disposed by any organization is nearly impossible, we will then look at Intertek’s approach in providing verification for the following categories:
- Zero waste to landfill at least 99% diversion rate.
Near zero waste to landfill between 95 and 99% diversion rates - Advanced waste diversion from 85% to below 95% diversion rates.
So as mentioned, I am delighted to be joined today by Zoe Spriggs from Biffpack at Biffa. Now Zoe has been in the waste industry for over 13 years and has been with Biffpak for the last year. On the Intertek side, I'm joined by Jeffrey Eves. Jeffrey works as our Green Services Program Director and is based out of our North America business. He's been responsible for managing sustainability and auditing verification services for our green service areas, including many of the standards like ISO 14001, ISO 50001 Energy Management, and more recently, our zero waste to landfill services.
So without further ado, let's get started. Hi and welcome, Zoe. Thank you so much for joining us today.
What are the key new and existing legislation and regulations Food manufacturers should be aware of?
Zoe Spriggs 2.55
Thanks Catherine. So the UK Government has implemented various legislation to support sustainability and the circular economy, including :
- Plastic packaging tax
- Simply recycling for businesses
- Deposit return scheme
- Extended producer responsibility for packaging [EPR]
Under EPR, UK businesses who handle packaging will need to fund the total cost of managing packaging waste from production to removal in addition to their current liability. This means paying for all packaging they introduce to the UK market, plus additional fees for the waste disposed of by household consumers.
Catherine Beare 3.30
Great. So quite some changes indeed. So how do the new rules aim to inspire a more circular economy for packaging?
Zoe Spriggs 3.39
Out of Sustainable waste management legislation coming into force, EPR is the one most likely to build a path for long term change by incentivizing end to end recovery potential within packaging design. We expect packaging built for circularity will be incentivized with the fee structure which will drive innovation at the design phase.
In recent years, we've seen almost total standardisation in the shape and size of milk bottles at major supermarkets and the removal of coloured plastics from beverage containers like water bottles. Simplifying the components used in both these products makes recycling them much easier and has significantly improved bottle recycling Rates. There is an appetite to replicate this success across the industry, for other packaging products which cause problems at plants such as fabric conditioner bottles and plastic bags.
People and businesses want to be involved with companies who share their values.
Consumers, especially list sustainability and reducing waste in manufacturing as the leading sustainable practices they want from brands.
EPR enables businesses to combine their sustainable and cost saving objectives, while recognising the commercial advantages of packaging design for circularity.
Of the sustainable waste management legislation coming into force, EPR is the one incentivizing end of life recovery potential from packaging design. We expect packaging built for circularity will be incentivized within the fee structure, which will drive innovation at the design phase. The government's circular economy package sets a target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035 and this legislation will provide a pivotal role in fulfilling that goal.
Catherine Beare 5.24
Thanks for that, indeed quite a lot for our viewers to take in. So look, let's move over to Jeff now and talk a little bit about zero waste. Jeff, can you give us an overview of landfill diversion through zero waste to landfill and the resulting benefits?
Jeffrey Eves 5.46
Yeah, sure. So the concept of zero landfill or zero waste represents a paradigm shift from your traditional waste management practices towards a more sustainable model. Where waste is minimized, resources are reused and the environmental impact is significant reduced.
So we have a number of benefits that come along with, you know, having this zero waste approach.
So if we talk about the environmental benefits particularly, you can see a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions if you think about it, landfills are very significant contributors to methane emissions. Which of course is a greenhouse gas. So by diverting waste from landfills through recycling and composting, the greenhouse gas emissions can be substantially reduced, contributing to, of course, climate change mitigation efforts. But then also, if you're conserving your resources by again using less so that the strategies promote the circular economy that we've already heard where materials are reused, recycled or composted, thereby conserving these resources further. So this approach aligns with our broader sustainability goals, reducing the need for raw material extraction.
Again, the negative impacts there relates to habitat destruction and biodiversity loss.
So again, all these things that you know for anyone involved in sustainability, these are the things that you are particularly trying to work on in terms of improving habitats and biodiversity as well.
And then of course decrease pollution. As we know landfills have a history, even if they're old or new, they tend over time to leak and then contaminate the soil and groundwater in the immediate area. So of course, zero waste initiatives are going to help minimize the risk associated with that with the pollution.
And of course, there are economic advantages. You can save a lot of money over time. But there is typically initial investments in recycling and in the composting infrastructure, and then that can be high. But the long term benefits will end up with reduced disposal costs and actually potential revenue for recycled materials. So for instance, waste to energy facilities where they might Incinerate the waste, but they're creating energy through that process, it's still not zero landfill in the strictest sense. but through that energy conversion, that's a positive economic benefit as result of that.
Then job creation, there's a lot of new jobs coming out now in the green market. And really, throughout the world, you know there's a lot of innovation so we have new waste management technologies and again these are leading to job creation in the sector.
Technical, technological and innovation benefits So the innovation and waste management really t with the push for the zero landfill approach, it's obviously creating the need for the new technologies, right? They say necessity is the mother of invention and that's what's happening, you know, in the green world right now.
And so there's a lot of innovation. In improving the reuse of materials and.
And again, minimizing waste and the integration with the renewable energy piece.
So again, the waste to energy plants. Again, it's not illuminating waste entirely, but it is helping to bridge that zero landfill by converting waste into energy and that's helping with more renewable energy solutions for everyone.
There are some challenges, though, with respect to that. Obviously you have the economic viability because recycling does cost a lot and for the most part it does need to be subsidized by municipalities and so you see at the municipality or even country level a lot of long term planning and phased implementation to help mitigate all the cost and then also the at that level they're trying to work with the public to improve the perception and behavior change because not everyone is used to recycling, and so the idea is to make it easier for everybody to do it, make it more accessible to help be successful.
And of course, there's a lot of technological limitations, so a lot of organizations struggle with trying to find a home for all the waste that they're generating and quite often have to work with waste brokers to find solutions to be able to actually recycle all of their waste and get to that 99%.
So really a conclusion? The zero landfill approach is pretty ambitious, but there's pretty significant environmental, economic and social benefits and by reucing waste, conserving resources and fostering innovation. it aligns with global sustainability goals. So the journey towards zero landfill requires commitment from the governments, businesses and individuals supported by continual technological advancements and policy frameworks that encourage sustainable waste management practices.
So Intertek Zero Waste to Landfill certification program can help organizations on their journey to zero waste. From the beginning stages where we can conduct gap assessments just to kind of figure out where they are in respect to that journey and then to the actual verification where we will verify that the landfill diversion rate through the third party process and then what the advantage there for organizations is you're providing a or you have an external claim that you're saying your zero landfill, but you're interested parties and stakeholders will have confidence in the fact that what you're saying is true because it does have that third party verification. So these are the ways that Intertek can help organizations on their journey.
Catherine Beare 12.00
Thank you, Jeff. And you're quite a bit for people to take in there in terms of both the benefits, which obviously need to be thought through from both a positive but also some side effect impact, but quite many things actually as possibilities to help, which is great to see.
So thank both so much, Jeff and Zoe, for your time today. Zoe, first of all, I think that was really clear setting an understanding of the existing and imminent changes
that are afoot on this legislation but also helping us to understand a bit more how all of this is really going to help more of a circular economy for packaging.
And thank you, Jeff, for the very detailed explanation around environmental benefits as well as economic and technology advantages and benefits that we see coming through there as well as explaining how Intertek can help.
So For more information, please do visit https://www.intertek.com/assurance/zero-waste-to-landfill/ and get in touch via e-mail : ukenquiries@intertech.com.
Thank you very much all and have a great day.
MORE INFORMATION
Biffa guide to EPR
Intertek Zero Waste to Landfill
Environmental Management Training Courses
