Resources

PackFlow Covid-19: The impact on the compliance landscape for UK packaging recycling 2020-2022

Packaging compliance specialist Valpak (a Reconomy Group Company), together with its key partners WRAP and INCPEN, has published updated PackFlow reports which estimate the amount of packaging placed on the UK market (POM) in 2019 (Phase I) and assess the impact of Covid-19 on UK packaging compliance for 2020 and through to 2022 (Phase II).

Despite concerns relating to the potential impact of COVID-19 and the associated restrictions, the report finds that overall compliance with targets proposed in the 2019 packaging consultations will be challenging yet broadly achievable. 

The PackFlow reports cover glass, metals, paper, plastic and wood and are designed to quantify how much packaging is placed on the UK market (POM) and subsequently recycled.  They are also used by UK governments to inform the setting of business recycling targets.

Presenting our 2019-20 annual report. A year on from our inaugural annual report where we published our 2018 baseline data we can now present our 2019 data highlights and member actions. 

An interim report on work exploring how farmers can be supported to collaborate in measuring food surplus and waste and identifying production efficiencies.

The third in a series of reports detailing how UK citizens’ food habits, behaviours and attitudes have changed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Key findings

• Almost four in five UK citizens (79%) undertook additional food management behaviours during lockdown, and these behaviours endured as lockdown eased.
• However, fewer than 30% of us see a link between wasting food and climate change.
• New 'Wasting Food: It's Out of Date' brand to bring to life the devastating environmental cost of wasting food.

Three different trials were carried out, one at a refuse bag manufacturer and two at panel board manufacturers. Each trial used material from different sources such as film collection from a material recycling facility, collected kerbside sourced comingled film, and post-consumer recyclate sourced from a retail store’s front and back of store waste.

The estimated quantity of metal packaging placed on the market & recycled from 2017 to 2025 and the probability of compliance with national & European recycling targets.

The estimated quantity of paper packaging placed on the market & recycled from 2017 to 2025 and the probability of compliance with national & European recycling targets.

Providing easy-to-use, conveniently located recycling facilities in popular public locations will help England achieve a higher recycling rate and bring financial benefits too.

Prepared by the World Bank and WRAP on behalf of the government of Mexico, the Conceptual Framework brings together the data on food loss and waste in Mexico for the first time, painting a compelling picture of the current situation an creating a framework for action.

Unsustainable production and consumption of food constitutes one of the biggest environmental threats to our planet. Eliminating food loss and waste to the largest extent possible – at all stages from producer to consumer – stands out as an urgent and indispensable step towards more sustainable food systems.

When designing and specifying packaging, circularity should be at the heart of decision-making. WRAP has developed guidance on plastic packaging which should be read in advance of deciding which plastics to select: Defining what's recyclable and best in class polymer choices for packaging.