Are
you part of the green revolution? Do you follow the ‘recycle and reuse’ mantra?

If yes, then you’ll be happy to know about the new change
that will kick-start this year. It seems that the government wanted the New
Year to bring about a new revolution.

As everyone in the foodservice industry is talking about the
recent ‘Resource
and Wastage Strategy’authorized by Defra (The Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The
new plan declares that the food service industries will now be held responsible
for all recycling costs for their food packaging. Plus, they will be charged an
additional amount if their food packages can’t be recycled.

How
will this impact their business? It seems that this noble cause will come ata
hefty price.  That’s because the
estimates show that grocery stores and food producers will have to pay between
£500m and £1bn per year to meet the requirements. Moreover, the government
promises to use this strategy to simplify the complicated recycling system in
the country.

The
Environmental Secretary, Michael Gove explains the reasoning behind this new
law:

“We will cut our reliance on single-use plastics, end
confusion over household recycling, tackle the problem of packaging by making
polluters pay, and end the economic, environmental and moral scandal that is
food waste.”

As
great as it sounds, we wonder what the real players think about this
revolutionary idea.

Here are a handful of reactions from the renowned food
packaging companies about this decision:

The CEO at Biffa (Michael Topham) is ecstatic about the
recent developments, he says,

“We’ve been highlighting the need for increased producer
responsibility to tackle waste at source, particularly plastics and phasing out
hard to recycle materials, so it’s good to see this reflected in the strategy.
Measures like an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme should encourage and
incentivise waste producers to rethink packaging design for recyclability.”

Moreover, he believes that this will open up new jobs at the
foodservice packaging sector. This will be the result of an increase in
investments by big names to collaborate with their manufacturers for
eco-friendly packaging.

On the other hand, The Packaging Federation’s chief
executive isn’t too thrilled about the idea. He thinks that businesses like his
are getting their due rights as the producers will now be obligated to bear
their burden. Nonetheless, he warns that the inflation in prices might trigger
an upheaval in the consumer circles.

He thinks that“None of these proposals will work unless
consumers do their bit. If we want to live the way we do then everyone has to
play their part.”

Apart from these mixed reactions, some business sectors are
disappointed at the lack of details mentioned in the scheme.

For instance, they want to know answers to questions
like:

• What materials will be considered ‘recyclable’?
• How long will it take to see the results?
• What role would the consumers play?

On
the whole, this is a ‘step in the direction’, but the general consensus is that
it is too soon to tell how things will pan out. Until then, food suppliers and
producers should team up with eco-friendly foodservice packaging
companies to cut down their wastage.

What’s your take on this government plan?