A group made up of 45 packaging compliance schemes has been formed to drive forward industry reform in the UK.

Launched today (21 September), the Packaging Scheme Forum (PSF) brings together leading compliance schemes from across the country, including Valpak, Ecosurety, ERP UK and REPIC, all of which work with packaging producers in the UK to ensure they meet legal obligations for the recovery and recycling of their products.

Compliance schemes procure Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Waste Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) on behalf of their clients, which prove that a certain amount of packaging has been received or exported for recycling.

The new group has been formed in advance of the government’s Resources and Waste Strategy, which is expected to be published later this year, though no official date has been announced. An element of the strategy is expected to focus on possible changes to the UK’s extended producer responsibility system and use of the PRN/PERN scheme, which has drawn criticism froma range of industry and government bodies for failing to deliver quality recycling or properly hold producers responsible for the waste they create.

Read more: What have PRNs achieved?

Earlier this year, the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) released a policy paper titled ‘The future of local authority waste funding’ which pointed to PRN reform as a key requirement for councils to increase their recycling rates.

In a hearing with Parliament’s Environmental Audit back in 2017, LARAC CEO Lee Marshall said: “In the UK, the producer responsibility scheme fails the Ronseal test: producers are not responsible in terms of a cost point of view, providing perhaps only ten per cent [of funding for collections], while local authorities are funding the other 90 per cent”.

The PERN element of the system has also come under fire, with a National Audit Office review in July noting that PERNs are issued on shipment, not reprocessing, meaning there is no proof that material exported for processing is actually being recycled once it arrives at its destination.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published its 25 Year Environment Plan in January this year, which contains a commitment to reforming the UK Packaging Waste Regulations (and producer responsibility system more widely) in order to ‘incentivise producers to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products’. The PRS has been formed in order to facilitate discussion on these topics between industry groups and government departments before the Resources and Waste Strategy is published.

Representing 97 per cent of UK producers registered with compliance schemes, the group will enable its members (including producers from the automotive, chemical manufacturing, engineering, food and drink manufacturing, apparel, sports and leisure, medical and retail sectors) to provide insight into existing packaging waste regulations and help to shape change in the system.

The group held its first official meeting on 13 September in Birmingham, which was attended by key representatives from Defra.

Robbie Staniforth, Chair of the PSF and Policy Manager at compliance scheme Ecosurety, commented: “It has been encouraging to witness the recent surge in interest in the UK’s existing packaging regulations and we welcome all efforts being made by government to review the existing system.

“The members of this newly formed PSF have considerable expertise from operating with the existing Packaging Waste Regulations. We look forward to working collaboratively with government so the best results for the UK’s industry, producers and our environment are secured.”