Packaging Innovations & Empack hosted one of the most consequential events in the recent history of the packaging industry as PackUK, the UK’s administrator for its extended producer responsibility (pEPR) scheme, presented its vision for the future live at the Birmingham NEC.
The event marked the first time PackUK has publicly addressed the industry since its official launch at the end of January. Speaking at the event in front of a packed conference zone, Sebastian Munden, chair of the EPR scheme administrator, said, “This is an important milestone in the UK’s commitment to modernise packaging, waste management, and eliminate the idea of waste as we transition to a circular economy.
“PackUK will shift the cost of managing household packaging waste from taxpayers to businesses, applying the ‘polluter pays’ principle. We hope it will incentivise innovation and, in turn, boost investment into recycling services and infrastructure.”
Munden was joined on the panel by civil servants from environmental departments from the four UK nations. Shane Doris, Director of Environmental Resources Policy Division at the Department for Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland took to the stage to say, “It has been a Herculean effort involving politicians, officials, packaging industry representatives, and other stakeholders from across the UK. I can think of no better event to launch PackUK, and I look forward to healthy discussions with the many value chain professionals attending.”
David McPhee, Deputy Director of Circular Economy Division at the Scottish Government, added, “This is not about one part of the system, it’s about creating the entire system. It’ll take time for us to understand how that system works, but ultimately this is about working together to create a more efficient and effective system. That’s why it’s so important to have local government and industry around the table talking about how this all works.”
Rhodri Asby, Deputy Director for Resource Efficiency and Circular Economy in the Welsh Government, also spoke, saying, “This is a core part of the Welsh government programme, and a really important strategic part of our Net Zero Wales decarbonisation plan. By helping to prevent the disruption in natural resources that we’re seeing globally, and supporting access to secondary materials, this has become an important initiative for our economy.
“One of the key priorities of the Welsh government is around jobs and green growth, and this is at the core of that.”
Finally, Emma Bourne OBE, Director of Defra, highlighted the economic benefits of the scheme, saying, “PackUK sits within a wider suite of packaging reforms. It is critical to meeting the costs of the introduction of simpler recycling, which will essentially guarantee the feedstock supply for the reprocessing sector, providing certainty to recyclers and therefore the stimulus to invest in creating capacity. Then, because of the modulated fees, there will be an appetite amongst producers for more recyclable materials. That creates a circular economic relationship.
“The modelling suggests that collectively, these reforms can stimulate around £10bn worth of investment in the UK’s recycling infrastructure over the next 10 years, and create around 21,000 additional jobs across the sector. That’s an important investment in the future, but also in our security and resource resilience. We exist in turbulent times internationally, so having greater confidence in maximising the value and security of our materials domestically is a really important part of that overall security picture.”
The presentation took place on the first day of Packaging Innovations & Empack 2025, which was predicted to break all attendance records as it cemented its place as one of the world’s most important packaging industry events.
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