The challenge of increasing national rates of recycling for household packaging waste is being met by a new cross-industry group representing retailers, packer/fillers, waste companies, local government organisations and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The steering committee of the Cross-Industry Packaging Waste Group (CIPWG) is chaired by head of corporate policy, sustainability and ethics at Asda Julian Walker-Palin. "When we first met, we agreed to focus on household collections, which are important to all of us," he says. "It's about agreeing what the barriers are and looking at ways forward." Steering committee members include the Packaging Federation. Chief executive Dick Searle explains: "Local authorities are judged on their diversion of biodegradables from landfill. Increasingly, they are under pressure to increase recycling rates, but they derive no benefit from this." So, if volumes and quality of household collections are to increase, he asks, who should pay for it?
展开▼
