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Mondi warns rise in UK packaging prices as pound tumbles

Mondi warns rise in UK packaging prices as pound tumbles.

Mondi warns rise in UK packaging prices as pound tumbles

Global suppliers such as the South African paper and packaging giant usually insert clauses into contracts allowing for price recalculations in light of currency fluctuations.

“We export many of our products from Europe to the UK and most of these contracts have currency agreements in place, so they have been repriced to take in the currency movements,” he said.

This price increase could eventually hit consumers.

Mondi has seen an improvement in profits – operating profits rose 3% to €227m (£205m) in the third quarter, compared to the same period last year.

This was after a turbulent second quarter which saw a 12% dip in operating profits.

Energy costs were down on the comparable prior year period due to lower energy prices and the benefits of various energy efficiency investments.

Since June 30 the company’s sales volumes were in line with last year, and its costs for components such as wood and chemicals had remained stable during the period.

Additionally, the average cost per tonne of paper for recycling was up 8% on the comparable prior year period and up 10% on the second quarter.

Mondi’s €450m investment and modernisation programme to upgrade its equipment is expected to contribute less to its operating profits than previously forecast – some €50, down from €60m.

UK fails to recycle almost 50% of its plastic bottles

UK fails to recycle almost 50% of its plastic bottles.

UK fails to recycle almost 50% of its plastic bottlesUK fails to recycle almost 50% of its plastic bottles each year the average UK household uses 480 plastic bottles , but only recycles 270 of them – meaning nearly half (44%) are not put in the recycling.

This means that nationally, of the over 35 million plastic bottles being used every day in the UK, nearly 16 million plastic bottles aren’t being put out for recycling. New data from Recycle Now reveals the number of plastic bottles evading recycling could reach 29 billion over the four years up to the end of 2020.

If a year’s worth of the UK’s unrecycled plastic bottles were placed end to end, they’d reach around the world 31 times, covering  just over 780,000 miles.

Alice Harlock, from Recycle Now said: “The number of plastic bottles not being recycled is staggering and will increase further if we don’t take action.  Householders are often unsure if items are recyclable especially from the bathroom, bedroom and living room. An easy way to tell is, if an item is plastic and bottle shaped its recyclable.”

Commonly used items people might not know are recyclable include: empty bleach; shampoo; conditioner; bathroom cleaners and hand soap dispenser bottles.

In a bid to encourage people into taking action to recycle more plastic bottles, Recycle Now is calling on the UK public to open their eyes to all potential recycling opportunities in the home.

Harlock added: “We need to challenge ourselves when it comes to what we could be recycling. Every plastic bottle counts. We’re asking people to think more about what they can recycle every time they go to put something in the waste bin. If you’re having a shower and using up the last of the shampoo – don’t just think replace, think Recycle. When you run out of your favourite moisturiser in the morning – don’t just think replace, think Recycle.  If you’re not sure whether you can recycle plastic bottles at home check out our Recycling Locator.”

How to recycle plastic:

Nearly all local authorities in the UK collect recycling from the home, and recycling plastic bottles has never been easier.  To ensure consumers recycle at home, Recycle Now recommends:

  • Making sure plastic bottles are empty
  • Rinsing the bottles
  • Squashing the bottles to save space in the recycling bin (then put the lids back on)
  • If you’re on the go; pop your plastic bottle in a bag and recycle it when you get home rather than throwing it in a waste bin

TOP THREE PLASTIC RECYCLING MYTHS DEBUNKED

Keep your plastic lids 

Plastic bottles with plastic lids – water bottles, milk bottles, shampoo and bleach bottles can be squashed to save space in your recycling bin, and the lids can be put back on for recycling too.

What about bleach?

Some people assume bleach and kitchen cleaner bottles can’t be recycled because of their contents – but it’s easier than you think to safely recycle them. Ensure the bottle is empty and leave the lid on.

What’s the point of recycling plastics?

Using recycled materials in the manufacturing process uses considerably less energy than required for producing new products from scratch – 75% less in fact, meaning the impact on the environment is lowered.

UK packaging recycling obligations met from 2014 results

UK packaging recycling, the Environment Agency has confirmed that the annual obligation for the amount of packaging waste recycled in 2015 has been met with the help of carry from 2014.

UK packaging recycling

UK packaging recycling Carry it refers to recycling that has taken place in December of the previous year but held against the current years recycling target.

Recycling figures (excl. carry in) show that 8,476, 729 tonnes of packaging waste was either reprocessed in the UK or exported against a target of 7,487,312 tonnes.

The final total for the year for paper was 3,667,387 tonnes against a net requirement of 2,715,816 tonnes, while wood came in at 374,991 tonnes and thus reaching above its 254,836 obligation.

Glass achieved its overall target with a 40,483 tonne surplus in glass remelt against a target of 1,035,167. Glass aggregate however only managed to produce 501,162 tonne return with a requirement of 537,080 tonnes.

Plastic which experienced an incredibly volatile year only met the obligation target with the help of a 65,444 tonne carry in from 2014, coming in at 891,141 tonnes against a 916,451 tonne target in year.

Steel fell agonisingly short in what was again very difficult trading conditions, achieving 363,927 tonnes on a target of 364,477 tonnes all be it with 23,948 tonne carry in acting as a buffer.

Aluminium registered 76, 027 tonnes, falling slightly short of its 76,252 tonne target with a 4,186 carry in taking it over the line.

Speaking on the 2015 Q4 supply figures Andrew Letham, sales and marketing manager at The Environment Exchange, told, the most notable returns was in plastic, where despite tough trading conditions there was a 23% increase on Q3 at 263,055 tonnes, the largest return ever seen in plastic. He said the 2015 figures brought some ‘staggering’ results in what were very difficult trading conditions.

The Environment Exchange said as new targets were confirmed alongside the budget, the agency recognised difficulties in plastic and reduced the increase from an intended 5% to a 2% increase until 2020. However, demand is still going to be higher than 2015 with a 35,000 tonne reduction in carry in.

Letham said: “If we continue to produce returns as seen in Q4 then we will ease past the revised targets but one would suggest that it should be taken as the exception rather than the rule,”. “Glass will be frozen at 77% with a 1% increase per year up to 80% which should see us achieve target this year but we will get further information on the 22 April with the release of the Q1 supply figures for 2016 when we will see if the current feeling of relative comfort in the market across all materials is to continue.”

Tesco customers decide how to spend plastic bag donated money

Tesco customers will decide which local community projects will receive the lion’s share of the money donated through the 5p plastic bag charge.

Tesco customers

Tesco customers. through the scheme, called ‘Bags of Help’, grants of £8,000, £10,000 and £12,000 will be awarded to charities and groups across the UK for spending on environmental improvement projects. Tesco customers will receive a token at the till to vote for the local project they think most deserves the bumper £12,000 grant, and have until 6 March to make their vote count. Over 1000 community projects will benefit from Tesco’s scheme.

A total of £11.5m raised from the sale of Tesco bags in the UK since October 2015 will be donated through Bags of Help, which is expected to be one of the biggest environmental improvement drives the UK has ever seen.

Over a thousand initiatives directly chosen by local people will get the green light thanks to the scheme including brand new pocket parks, sports facilities, woodland walks and community gardens. Bags of Help will be administered by UK environmental improvement charity Groundwork.

Matt Davies, Tesco UK and ROI chief executive said: “We want to serve Britain’s shoppers a little better every day, and everything we do at Tesco is informed by what our customers tell us.

“That’s why we wanted to give our customers the chance to choose the environmental projects they most want to benefit from the money raised through the bag charge.

“Our customers will help us make sure the money raised through the charge goes to make the biggest difference to local communities up and down the country.”

The projects that will be voted on by Tesco customers were nominated by local people and community groups, and whittled down to three for each area by special teams made up of Tesco colleagues from local stores.

Customers can make their choice in store and join the conversation on twitter using #BagsOfHelp.

Tackling Litter Paxman Slams UK at FPA Conference

Co-ordinated initiatives are the only way to Tackling Litter and prevent the UK from being a “rubbish dump”, according to TV presenter Jeremy Paxman.

Tackling Litter
He was speaking at the Foodservice Packaging Association’s annual environment conference in Solihull. The event debated what the UK needed to do to Tackling Litter and examined the issue of recycling.

In his presentation, Paxman, who is patron of Clean up Britain, claimed that tackling litter costs local authorities £1bn a year. He added that while individuals are responsible for dropping litter, empty cans, bottles, packets and burger wrappers are the kind of advertising that no brand would want.

“This has become a filthy country,” he said. “What does living in a rubbish dump say about us? We have lost self-respect. Unless business acts differently then there will be taxes, laws and legislation changes.”

Paxman urged a co-ordinated initiative to tackle litter, calling for a raft of bodies to come together. He added that government had “failed to address the problem” and that it’s lack of financial support meant that the private sector needed to fund initiatives.

Also speaking on litter was Derek Robertson from Keep Scotland Beautiful, who gave examples of initiatives that had succeeded. He added that a “common voice and collective action will have an impact”.

The founder of Hubbub, Trewin Restorick, pointed to a month-long initiative in Villiers Street, central London, which engaged with the public and observed how people littered. He added over the month, litter dropped by 26%.

Emma Cunningham, senior pollution campaigns officer at the Marine Conversation Society, added that £15m is spent on removing beach litter every year. She added that plastic was a serious problem as it never biodegrades, “it just weathers down to smaller and smaller pieces”.

The issue of recycling was also debated at the conference with representatives of McDonald’s, Nestle and Veolia.