SUSTAINABILITY Cemex Rugby Plant
SUSTAINING THE FOCUS ON PACKAGING
The UK construction sector is one of the most energy- intensive industries, so Anjali Sooknanan explores what merchants and manufacturers are doing to mitigate their effect on the planet.
T
he construction sector is second only to the packaging industry as the UK’s biggest producer of plastic waste; through a combination of litter generated by staff and the discarded wrappings of building components, it generates an estimated 50,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste each year. This is a substantial chunk of the 3.7 million tonnes of plastic believed to be chucked away in the UK every year – into landfill, into the oceans and exported to countries like China.
These alarming numbers are continuing to skyrocket, which is one of the reasons why the Government has stepped in to try to alleviate the problem by introducing the Plastic Packaging Tax.
The new legislation, brought in on April 1, applies to plastic packaging produced in or imported into the UK, which does not contain at least 30 per cent recycled plastic. Those that do not meet the standards set out by the Government are subject to a £200 per-tonne tax. The tax may apply to at least 20,000 manufacturers in the UK but plastic packaging waste is an issue for the whole supply chain, including merchants, upon whom the burden is considerable. At builders merchant MKM, head of ESG Rachel Constable says that, with the climate emergency such a pressing concern and requiring immediate action, so the introduction of measures such as the plastic tax on packaging is one of a number of tools designed to reduce the merchant’s reliance on single use plastic.
“In combination with changes to regulations and evolving consumer 38
demand, the introduction of a financial penalty is likely to serve as a genuine changemaker for the construction industry, encouraging manufacturers and merchants alike to consider how they are packaging their products,” she says.
“At MKM we don’t generate a huge amount of direct primary packaging, but we’ve taken proactive steps to improve the sustainability of our bulk / aggregate bags, ensuring that they are manufactured from at least 30% recycled materials.
Moving from single use “I think we are very much at the beginning of a programme designed to wean us off single use packaging. Looking ahead, it’s possible that the 30% recycled material threshold could increase. It wouldn’t be surprising to see us working towards a tax for materials that can’t be recycled too. As long as that is done collaboratively, with consultation across the industry to ensure that production can meet new demand, then it is a move that we should welcome.”
Constable adds that the construction sector’s commitment to the environment should, clearly, extend far beyond packaging,
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net July 2022
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