Managing The Future Of Plastic: Key Recommendations For Government

Creating a successful circular economy for plastics will help the economy as well as the environment, and the UK Government has a pivotal role to play.

Experts from the University of Birmingham, together with specialists from across different plastics sectors have collaborated on a series of recommendations which calls on Government to take the initiative on finding solutions to the plastics problem.

Their recommendations are published in a Policy Commission report, The Sustainable Plastics Policy Commission: Key findings for the UK government, launched at the Houses of Parliament by Commission Chair, Baroness Molly Meacher.

Speaking at the launch, Baroness Meacher said: “Plastics are an important resource that we cannot simply dispense with, but we must address the effects of plastic pollution. Our Government is absolutely key to ensuring that we can retain the value of plastics and extend their life through changes to the making and management of these products.”

The recommendations contained within the report include revalorising plastic ‘waste’ to support green growth and incentivise the emergence of next generation plastics production and recycling technologies. The report also shows that there is a significant opportunity for the UK to invest in chemical recycling to meet the demand for circular products, generating new job opportunities, and keeping plastic in the economy for longer.

Other recommendations included:

• Harnessing tax systems to promote sustainable decisions and create a ‘demand’ pull for sustainable options.
• Setting targets and incentives to reduce waste incineration and landfilling
• Ensuring closer regulation of compostable and biodegradable plastics, including stronger oversight of marketing claims
• Encouraging best practices in public sector procurement, including protocols on plastics life cycle assessments.
• Incentives for waste management bodies to recirculate plastics, fostering the growth of new production and recycling technologies.
• Investment in robust evidence on the human and environmental harms caused by plastics
• Establishment of a national sustainable plastics innovation research centre to drive innovation and encourage long-term, ambitious thinking.

BPFs Director General Philip Law gave a keynote speech on the evolution of the plastics industry and demonstrating how key collaborations such as the work from the Policy Commission support the industry. He commented that it was very appropriate for Birmingham University to publish such a report because it was a Birmingham entrepreneur, Alexander Parkes who  started the global plastics industry with the introduction of ‘Parkesine’ in 1862. He said that the heritage of plastics in Birmingham and the West Midlands was very strong indeed. He said "It has provided some great names in the UK industry, Joseph Lucas in Formans Road , British Industrial Plastics in Sutton Coldfield, Elliots in Walsall, Healey Mouldings in Wolverhampton, GKN Screws and Fasteners in Kings Norton, GPG in Witton , to cite just a few".  He emphasised that "sustainability is wider than its ecological dimensions. It also embraces economic and social aspects and that we should not forget how many people the UK plastics industry employs.  We currently employ 150,000 people which with a reasonable multiplier applied for dependents could equate to half a million people relying on plastics for their livelihood in the UK."  He made the point that the introduction of plastics and its replacement of some traditional metalworking industries assisted the survival and sustainability of manufacturing as an economic activity in the West Midlands.

Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker, Director of the Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society at the University of Birmingham, said: “Our research shows that plastic pollution is among the most significant concerns to the public. We need our policymakers to reflect that concern in their decision-making and ensure we do not lag behind other EU countries in areas such as taxation on non-recycled, single-use plastics, and in identifying and restricting key hazardous chemicals.”

Andrew Dove, Professor of Sustainable Polymer Chemistry at the University of Birmingham, said: “Our report shows where progress is being made: the UK’s plastic packaging tax, introduced in 2022, for example, targets plastic packaging with less than 30 per cent recycled plastic, and the Government is due to implement an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme later this year. We need to build on this momentum and take advantage of the best examples set by other countries, as well as the research and innovation available across academia and industry.”

Baroness Meacher added: “We must now take steps to implement solutions which enhance our economy, protect our people and environment, and place the UK as leaders in plastics management.”

Professor Andrew Dove                                Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker

Professor of Sustainable Chemistry             Professor of Science, Knowledge & Belief in Society

Synopsis of the Recommendations:

Harness the tax system to promote sustainable decisions.

• Add a sliding scale to PPT to encourage 30%+
• Take appropriate measures to mitigate fraud
• Government investment in plastic and waste management infrastructure to ensure sufficient availability of recycled plastics
• Raise the tax threshold in the medium term
• Use additional tax instruments to target difficult to recycle plastics

Broaden the scope of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) beyond packaging and create a ‘demand pull’ for sustainable alternatives across sectors.

• UK EPR targets are lower than those in the EU PPWR
• EPR should go beyond packaging and textiles and construction are obvious tartgets

Government should set ambitious but achievable targets to reduce incineration and landfilling.

• The UK’s plastic consumption results in 26 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the entire lifecycle impacting directly on progress towards net-zero
• The UK’s plastic consumption results in 26 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the entire lifecycle.

Strengthen regulation and oversight on compostable and biodegradable plastics.

• They require appropriate recovery systems to ensure they are disposed of correctly otherwise they may contaminate existing recycling streams
• Stronger oversight of marketing claims, enforced by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
• There is a lack of public understanding of the term ‘biodegradable,’ which can be used in misleading ways

Build the evidence base on plastic pollution’s human and environmental harms.

• As plastics break down, additives enter ecological and biological systems
• These effects increase risks of future governmental expenditures to treat, mitigate or remediate externalised costs
• Given that data and evidence is fragmented and often based on laboratory studies that do not approximate actual levels of exposure, the Government should invest in building the evidence base further
• The government should support the development of the UN science-policy panel to contribute to the sustainable management of chemicals and waste to prevent the harm caused by pollution (prioritising plastics additives)

It should research methodologies to tackle issues like ‘regrettable substitution’

• The Government could also consider setting environmental migration limits for companies to prove additives do not migrate out of plastics under certain conditions
• Drive innovation in sustainable plastics through a national centre of excellence.
• The Government is uniquely placed to unite diverse actors through a world-leading national sustainable plastics innovation research centre that can pool skills and investment to encourage co-creation across academic disciplines and industries
• The UK should incentivise researchers and companies to become world leaders in circular polymer systems, from materials design to next-generation recycling.
• The Government should also support private sector innovation by sticking to timelines on reforms like the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), thereby demonstrating a long-term commitment to the circular economy and giving confidence to investors

Utilise procurement to raise sustainability data and standards in plastics.

• The Government should use procurement to spark innovation and encourage best practices through protocols on holistic life cycle assessments and sustainability metrics
• The UK Government can encourage best practices and evidence-based decision-making by using the most robust methodologies in public sector procurement for all materials

Reform ‘end of life’ licensing to support green growth and incentivise the emergence of next-generation production and recycling technologies.

• Plastic waste needs to be revalorised to benefit the environment and the economy
• Relevant bodies need to agree to end-of-waste criteria that incentivise recirculation of polymeric carbon
• Awarding more opportunities to companies seeking to use materials innovatively may foster the market for materials

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To download the report click here