COMMENT

from BP&R March 2022

by BP&R Magazine

www.britishplastics.co.uk

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What a treat(y)!

Head of Content

Dave Gray, Gray,

I’m delighted to take the helm as Head of Content at BP&R and Interplas Insights – I’m no stranger to these brands, having worked on them back in the halcyon days of my youth. And what a time to re-join the plastics industry! In the face of unprecedented challenges – unstable resin prices resulting from global events, rapidly increasing sustainability legislation, and the ongoing disruptions caused by the COVID pandemic – the sector remains, nonetheless, positive.

A global plastics treaty, spearheaded by the UN, is now offi cially a work in progress, having been agreed in principle at UNEA 5 in Kenya. I was so pleased to see the plastics industry throw it’s weight behind this idea. Let it never be said that the plastics industry is not environmentally conscious. As someone said to me recently, ‘people don’t realise, but this industry is actually full of very green people’. It’s so true. The sector has been adapting to our environmental reality for some time, entire business models have been re-written based on the need to change. The FT took a swipe at some major downstream chemicals players, who, according to the paper, had been lobbying for a version of the treaty that only focussed on recycling and re-use – thereby dodging anything that might impact on future demand. It’s not surprising, and it’s important to explain (especially to the public) that these players represent just one stakeholder in plastics. SMEs and OEMs, who make up so much of the plastics industry, have been generally very supportive of a treaty which covers not just end-of-life, but also design and production. The reality is that single-use plastics will face further restrictions, treaty or no treaty. That’s known and accepted, it comes as no surprise.

The Telegraph published something which brought a smile to my face – a review of James Piper’s The Rubbish Book, which illuminates readers on the many essential uses of plastics, and also the many inherent diff erences between diff erent types of plastic. In short, the article underpins the fact that plastic itself is not the enemy of sustainability – a welcome change of tone from the mainstream media.

More imminent, and closer to home than the arrival of the global plastics treaty, is the UK’s plastic packaging tax, which kicks in next month. It takes some decoding to work out what is, and isn’t taxable, but if you check out www.interplasinsights. com, the team at Summit Systems have provided a really helpful page of FAQ. It’ll be interesting to hear from materials suppliers and distributors to see how demand for recycled-content material changes once the tax kicks in. With costs for virgin resins likely to remain unstable for the foreseeable future, plus the double whammy of a tax in the packaging arena, I wonder if we’ll see a sharp uptick in demand for recycled-content grades in the fi rst half of the year.

Defi nitive insight on UK polymer markets

UK

POLYMER DISTRIBUTOR, PLASTRIBUTION, HAS TAKEN ITS MONTHLY INSIGHT ON THE UK’S POLYMER MARKETS, PRICE KNOW-HOW, ONLINE. WITH THE INCREASE IN GLOBAL DIGITAL COMMUNICATION AS A RESULT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, THE COMPANY EXPLAINS WHY THE MOVE WAS IMPORTANT AND WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM THE NEW-LOOK REPORT.

There are innumerable benefits to moving Price know-how online, not least in our abilities to maintain vital relationships and engagement among our readership

BACKGROUND ON THE REPORT

Price Know-How was originally launched in autumn 2011 and has been published monthly ever since. Distributed as a PDF via email, it currently has over 1,000 subscribers. In its inception, Plastribution acknowledged that although a raft of market data was readily available, the aim of the new price report was to bring together the key factors that infl uence polymer prices here in the UK, and that a fundamental part of that approach was to translate foreign currency based pricing into pounds sterling at the prevailing exchange rate, with tonnes as the common unit of measure. Over the years, the report, which became branded ‘Price Know-How’, has maintained its purpose and relevance in the industry, by providing the readership with a trusted appraisal of market conditions so that purchasing strategies can be discussed and implemented in the context of their own commercial relationships.

THE REPORT INCLUDES:

• A market overview. • The definitive insight on UK Sector data - Polyolefi ns, Styrenics and • polymer markets goes digitalEngineering Polymers. Supply and demand trends for individual polymer groups with relevant timely commentary. • Oil prices and any special factors aff ecting polymer feedstocks. • Exchange rate and key UK economic data. Alongside Price Know-How, at the beginning of every year Plastribution also publishes an assessment of the UK polymer markets over the past year, and what may happen in the year ahead, particularly in terms of the outlook for material availability and pricing. This particular report, which is widely circulated through industry media channels, is known as ‘Price Know-How Outlook & Review’.

PRICE KNOW-HOW ONLINE

Plastribution says that it is delighted that its Price Know-How content continues to be as popular as ever, however the fi rm is keen to further increase readership by re-vitalising the publication and making an online version more engaging and dynamic. In recognising the popularity of the report in its current guise - as a simple PDF - the company will also retain the report in a downloadable format as an option for the time being, but points out that the online version will provide more valuable content and a new and compelling experience for the reader.

KEY FEATURES

Subscribers to the new Price Know-How format will fi nd the new platform immersive and personable, providing them with the opportunity to access the information they want quickly and effi ciently. The fully responsive report contains all the main features of the previous PDF based format, but with additional elements such as interactive graphs, insights on report authors, and an additional option of accessing video content called ‘snippets’. The purpose of snippets is to provide subscribers with commentary on particular up-todate market dynamics as and when they occur, whether that be pricing, material availability, or other key issues. Delivered by members of the company’s senior management team, snippets is likely to appeal to busy commercial teams who might need more information about a particular material before making purchasing decisions.

SUBSCRIPTION

Plastribution’s digital Price Know-How, which was launched recently, is free and subscription-based at www.plb.ltd/pkh. Subscribers will be notifi ed via email monthly when new content is uploaded to the site. Snippets will be added to the platform intermittently. “There are innumerable benefi ts to moving Price Know-How online, not least in our abilities to maintain vital relationships and engagement among our readership, particular as digital communication is now very much the new normal,” said Plastribution’s Ian Chisnall. “With a responsive design and intuitive navigation, having the report online will also reduce complexity and make it easier for our subscribers to access important information that they need on the go. What’s more, it will also provide important sustainable and resourcing benefi ts in the longer term.”