BPF Position Statements

Below you can find useful summaries of the British Plastics Federation's (BPF) official position on a range of subjects, covering health and safety as well as environmental topics.

For more information on any of the BPF's positions regarding plastics, please contact [email protected] or call: 0207-457-5000.

	Biodegradable and Oxo-Degradable Plastics Biobased plastics and biodegradable plastics both have clear uses, this position looks at them in the context of the open environment, impacts on recycling and also key areas whereby these materials could play a valid role. This position also looks at these materials and oxo-degradables in the context of littering and impacts on the waste stream.
	Bisphenol-A (BPA) Bisphenol A (BPA) is an important chemical used primarily as an intermediate in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins, which are used in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications.
	Certification And Verification Of Recycled Content Under the plastic packaging tax, any plastic packaging item that does not contain 30% recycled content has to pay the tax (£217.85 currently). This led to a proposal from industry, before the tax was in place, for a ‘Recycled Content Verification System’ (RCVS). The British Plastics Federation (BPF), together with RECOUP, produced a Recycled Content Verification Systems Research Document in 2021, which was later updated in 2022 following the release of the tax.
	Chemical Recycling Chemical recycling (a subset of non-mechanical or advanced recycling) offers the opportunity to process plastic waste both fossil derived and non-fossil that is difficult to recycle into high quality, high value recyclate.
	Closed and Open Loop Plastic Recycling Closed loop recycling is when plastic is reprocessed and the recyclate produced is used in the manufacture of another product in the same product category. Open loop recycling is when products reprocessed and the recyclate produced is used in a different application. This is often into a longer life product.
	Consistent Collections of Flexible Plastics At present in the UK most councils provide a collection service for plastic bottles, pots tubs and trays. However very few councils collect flexible plastics such as plastic film and bags. As a result, only 38% of all plastic packaging was collected from households for recycling in 2019 (source Valpak packflow October 2020).
	Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) Deposit return schemes (DRSs) involve increasing the cost of particular products and having the extra cost refunded to you when you return it to a specific location.
	Drinking from Plastic Bottles Water and other soft drinks are almost always packaged in a type of plastic bottle made from Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), whereas milk is usually packaged in bottles made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). Plastic bottles are safe to drink from and safe to reuse if they are kept clean.
	Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are substances that, if allowed to enter the human body, “trigger abnormal processes in the endocrine system, with potentially severe health consequences”. The endocrine system is made up of glands that produce and secrete, hormones.
	Energy From Waste Energy from waste (EfW) capacity has grown significantly over the past decade. With the introduction of the landfill tax and the Biological Municipal Waste targets as set out in the Landfill Directive 1999, EfW has been seen as part of the solution to reducing reliance on landfill.
	Exporting Plastic Waste for Recycling The export of plastic waste materials for recycling, particularly to developing countries, is sometimes seen as a questionable practice. However, the UK remains dependent upon export markets to achieve its plastic recycling targets because we do not currently have capacity to recycle all our plastic waste.
	Extended Producer Responsibility The UK plastics industry supports the government’s objective of reducing plastic waste and improving recycling rates.
	Fraud / Waste Crime Fraud and waste crime is a concern for the industry as it not only portrays the industry in a bad light with the public, but it also makes it harder for legitimate companies to operate due to the impact it has on markets.
	Food Contact Internationally accepted food approval for recycled content is vital to drive up the use of recycled content.
	Global Treaty on Plastic Pollution Plastic pollution is a global issue and the impacts of it are felt across borders. Associated pollution and environmental damage from plastic pollution requires broad coalition from nations at all levels of government.
	Marine Litter Plastics should not end up in the aquatic environment, where they may cause harm to wildlife. In the UK we have a well-established recycling collection infrastructure in place that allows us to turn post-consumer plastics into new products.
	Material Quality and Used Plastic Pivotal to the successful recycling of plastic, both within the UK and abroad, is the way it is presented to the recycling sector. Waste plastic should be collected in a manner that enables maximum recycling.
	Microplastics Microplastics are typically defined as small pieces of solid polymer-containing material, to which additives or other substances may have been added, consisting of dimensions of 5 millimetres (mm) or less. Their release into the environment can be unintentional, for example from the erosion of car tyres or textiles during washing or intentional such as microbeads added to cosmetic products.
	Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations (PPWR) The European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (94/62/EC) was amended in 2018 to become the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (2018/852). The aim was to harmonise national measures regarding the management of packaging and packaging waste, to protect the environment, and also to ensure the internal market functions well.
	Plastic Pipes For position statements relating to the plastic pipes industry, please follow the link above to view position statements from the BPF Pipes Group.
	Plastics & Oil Consumption Most plastics are made from petrochemicals, meaning that fossil feedstocks are used in their production. However, only 4% of the world’s fossil resources are used in plastics production.
	Polymer Choice Packaging has to fulfill certain functions depending upon the product it is protecting. Proposals to limit the choice of polymers that brands and manufacturers can use are generally intended to boost recycling.
	Pre-consumer Material and the Plastic Packaging Tax The BPF recognises the government’s motivation regarding removing pre-consumer material from being included within the scope of the Plastic Packaging Tax. The difference in cost between recycling pre- and post-consumer material is significant and needs to be acknowledged.
	Reuse ‘Reuse’ ranks third in the waste hierarchy, below ‘remove’ and ‘reduce’ but above ‘recycling’, so cannot be ignored by society. The premise that reusing an item is better than using an item once and then discarding or recycling it is a key tenet of the circular economy for plastic packaging and can have several other benefits, like improving brand loyalty.
	Safety of Chemicals in Plastic Packaging Plastic is used in packaging as the dominant material of choice. It is also used as a component part in packaging where the predominant material is not plastic. Examples include linings in cardboard trays, cups and cartons and linings in metal cans.
	Single-Use Plastic Many packaging materials are only used once before being recycled or sent to landfill. However, plastic, rather than other materials, is typically attached to the term ‘single use’ in the media.
	Split Targets and PRN Reform The Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) system was designed to help the UK achieve recycling targets set by the government. A split target is when an increasing percentage of evidence needs to come from PRNs rather than Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs).
	Taxing Plastic Packaging Based Upon the Amount of Recycled Content The British Plastic Federation very much supports the UK government’s overall objective of addressing single-use plastic waste. In 2019 the government proposed taxing plastic packaging products that do not contain at least 30% recycled material.
	UK Plastic Tax Escalator The BPF would not support an increase in the minimum recycled threshold as increasing this further would not overcome any of the barriers to increasing the use of recycled content —and could encourage further fraud. Increasing the minimum threshold is also likely to increase imports further, rather than leading to investment in UK infrastructure. The BPF could potentially support a modest increase in the cost of the tax.