Association Update

from Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Magazine / Issue 204 / June 2021

Ready for summer – ice

NATIONAL PIZZA WEEK

Plans are being drawn up for a national pizza week in November with the aim of supporting the industry at a key time of year for sales. The week is likely to take place towards the end of the month following the industry awards on 11 November 2021. An outline proposal for the campaign will be discussed by the PAPA Management Committee when it meets in July.

STAFF SHORTAGES

With many foodservice businesses reporting difficulties in recruiting staff, particularly chefs and kitchen staff, the Association is pressing the government to relax its immigration rules to allow workers back into the UK who left due to COVID.

PACKAGING WASTE COSTS

Concerns have been raised about plans by the government to offload the costs of packaging waste and litter onto businesses from 2023. Under the proposed Extended Packaging Responsibility rules, businesses would have to pick up all the costs currently borne by local authorities. PAPA has questioned the validity of the proposals which appear to simply move the costs of waste from local authorities onto industry and which do not resolve the issues of recycling. Instead, it has called for an integrated waste system with packaging and bins colour coded to aid consumers in disposing of waste packaging correctly.

KANTAR WEBINAR, 16 JUNE AT 2:30PM

For this webinar we’ll be looking at the first five weeks of reopening – who went out and where they went, and then we’ll be looking ahead by looking at how future working habits could impact the high street/ food to go market. We’re hoping to build a holistic view by looking at the food to go market not just by looking at context (like working patterns), but also by considering if our spend is diverted to foodservice when we’re allowed back there. Is it one or the other, or both at once for these shoppers, when it comes to foot go versus foodservice.

EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY FOR PACKAGING

Under new government proposals, all producers of packaging will have to bear the full cost of packaging waste – including local authority litter and waste collection costs – from 2023.

The scheme, which effectively aims to transfer the full costs of packaging waste and litter from local authorities to businesses, is conservatively expected to cost business some £2.7 billion, although some estimates are considerably higher than this.

The objective is claimed to be to “incentivise producers to reduce packaging, adopt reusable packaging and increase recyclability.”

Under the consultation, producers are defined as those businesses that place the packaging on the market. This encompasses a wide range of businesses, including brand owners, importers who place products on the market and packaging wholesalers supplying small businesses.

The consultation makes it clear that the brand owner will be held responsible for packaging, not the packer or filler as it says “it is often the brand owner and not the contracted party” who influences the packaging specification.

The fees charged to producers will be higher for those who use unrecyclable packaging as an incentive for them to change and there will be reduced fees where producers invest in collection and infrastructure schemes that enable the recycling of materials that are currently unrecyclable. An example would be the collection points for plastic films and flexibles.

There is also a proposal for all packaging to be “clearly and consistently labelled to inform consumers whether it can or cannot be recycled” and this is to be based on whether the infrastructure is in place to enable the packaging to be recycled rather than, as at present, whether it is technically feasible to recycle the pack. The aim is to have this in place by 2026/27.

Consideration is being given to whether sellers of single use cups should be required to provide takeback facilities for these cups to ensure they are recycled. Encouragement is also proposed, through lower fees, for the use of reuse and refill systems.

The consultation also recognises that there are currently challenges associated with the use and management of compostable and biodegradable packaging which do not fully biodegrade in the open environment, some of which require plastic treatment at the end of their life. It says that these are unlikely to be considered recyclable under this scheme and will, therefore, attract higher fee rates. In terms of payments, producers will be charged a fee based on tonnage and the quality of packaging waste collected and recycled. Producers would be obligated by law to report the weight of packaging they placed on the market.

Under current packaging regulations, businesses with a turnover of less than £2 million and who use less than 50 tonnes of packaging a year are exempt from reporting and evidence obligations. Under these new rules, it is proposed that the exemption should either be reduced to £1 million and 25 tonnes or that distributors/ manufacturers/importers of unfilled packaging should be required to account for the packaging used by these businesses.