EU legislators yesterday voted in favour of proposals to introduce
a controversial five-stage hierarchy of priority for the bloc's
waste management policy.
An influential industry body has hit back at a call by
environmental and consumer advocacy groups to put a tax on
disposable and 'hard-to-recycle' packaging.
In a bid to help UK companies meet food waste disposal targets, the
Yorkshire regional government has launched a project to band
smaller manufacturers together to make collection less costly and
more efficient.
Work on the UK's first factory able to recycle HDPE resin from
plastic milk bottles for re-use in food packaging could start
within a year, according to a government-funded recycling agency.
A proposed revision to the EU's waste management policy would give
preferential treatment to reusable packaging, such as bottles, over
recyclable materials.
Driven by tougher waste legislation and set EU targets, the
recovery of plastics in the bloc is growing steadily, according to
a new report by Applied Market Information (AMI).
European post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) collection
recycling rates reached 796,000 tonnes in 2005, a 15.1 per cent
increase over the previous year, according to a trade association.
Recycled packaging has become a more viable option in the UK,
according to three leading firms spanning soft drinks, food
retailing and cosmetics, who have been trialling products and
gauging consumer opinion.
Fonterra has developed a label that can be recycled along with the
plastic wrap that goes around pallets of goods in order to reduce
the amount of waste that is sent to landfill.
Tetra Pak's updated environmental policy, which will come into
force 1 January, underlines both the strength of green consumer
pressure and the direction in which the packaging industry is
moving.
Starbucks has promised to use beverage packaging containing 10 per
cent recycled material from 2005, though environmentalists have
criticised the corporation's commitment.
An innovative Australian scheme to recycle thousands of tonnes of
fish processing waste could dramatically cut down the need for
landfill space, save food processors money and, in the end, produce
a useful product.
A groundbreaking £8 million initiative to stimulate innovative
packaging design and at the same time significantly reduce food and
packaging waste has been launched in the UK.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety
and Energy Technology in Germany are developing a compostable
packaging tape that can be disposed of cheaply and creates less
waste.
Kraft Foods has commissioned an innovative food wastewater
treatment facility at a US cheese plant, which it claims will
reduce waste by more than 90 per cent, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
Huhtamaki's Chinet range of moulded fibre foodservice plates has
just been certified for biodegradability - the latest step in an
industry-wide trend towards greener packaging.