Author Archives: Alex Knight

Plastics companies rely heavily on EU workers

Plastics companies rely heavily on EU workers, says BPF survey. The plastics industry is highly reliant on EU workers and Brexit has pushed firms to automate some roles, according to a survey by the British Plastics Federation.

Plastics companies rely heavily on EU workers

The UK plastics industry is the third largest manufacturing sector in terms of employment, employing 166,000 people, of which, roughly 18,000 are non-UK EU citizens and 4,000 come from the rest of the world. EU workers account for roughly 11% of the entire workforce in the industry and one in five of all factory floor workers.

The survey showed that more than half of UK plastics companies rely on employing temporary workers during busy periods — and here EU citizens play a very prominent role, making up 48% of temporary workers. A quarter of the companies surveyed stated that they would like any new immigration policy to help them meet short-term, temporary needs.

Before the referendum, roughly half of UK plastics companies were having trouble recruiting. January’s BPF Business Conditions Survey showed that this has increased, with just under two-thirds of plastics companies now reporting difficulty filling key roles. The more recent survey, specifically about EU workers, shows that 10% of companies feel they are having trouble filling vacancies as a direct result of the EU referendum whereas 58% do not feel the result has affected their overall workforce.

The survey shows that factory floor staff and engineers are the toughest roles to fill and in order to plug the potential gap left by EU workers, 61% of companies say they may employ UK workers, 39% may train existing staff, while almost a third (29%) are also looking into the possibility of automating the roles.

Commenting on the findings, chairman of the BPF Brexit Taskforce, Mike Boswell, said: “Our industry has for some time experienced difficulty in finding the right staff for key roles and unfortunately Brexit appears to have made this situation worse. This survey has underlined the importance of EU workers in our industry.

“If companies that rely on temporary workers to fulfil their orders lose access to almost half of the temporary workforce, this will pose an enormous challenge. It is important that at this point companies are exploring all feasible alternatives, including investment in upskilling the existing workforce as well as the development and implementation of technology to automate roles, for which we will require further assistance from the UK government.”

The role of EU workers in the plastics industry survey was carried out in 2017 and was completed by almost 90 companies. To access the full survey, as well as a summary of the findings, visit: http://www.bpf.co.uk/eu/home.aspx

Guide to common carton styles

Guide to common carton styles. The range of carton styles is vast allowing you to have a carton produced that is fit for any purpose. We have given examples of the most common here…

We can help you design custom paper and cardboard boxes that best meet your needs. Please don’t hesitate to contact our friendly and experienced in-house packaging team to discuss your specific needs.

Guide to common carton styles

Guide to common carton styles

 

 

Co-op to make all its own-brand packaging recyclable

Co-op has voted to make 100% of its own-brand packaging recyclable, according to reports.

Co-op to make all its own-brand packaging recyclable

At the Annual General Meeting held last weekend, Co-op members voted overwhelmingly in support of the packaging motion.

Earlier this month the supermarket announced aims to have 80% of all its packaging recyclable by 2020.

Allan Leighton, chair of the Co-op, said: “The commitments we’ve made today to help fight modern slavery, cut packaging waste and back British suppliers are what the Co-op is all about. Working closely with our members, colleagues and communities I am confident that we can continue to champion a better way of doing business.”

Co-op also recently announced it was replacing the polystyrene discs with corrugated cardboard across its entire pizza range, which it said would stop 200 tonnes of polystyrene going to landfill and create almost 450 tonnes of recyclable material annually.

Tesco drops 5p carrier bags in trial

Tesco has launched a ten-week trial to find out how customers manage without the 5p carrier bag option.

Tesco drops 5p carrier bags in trial

The store’s customers will instead have the option of buying a reusable bag if needed.

The move could potentially lead to a phasing out of the ‘single use’ bags across the country.

A Tesco spokesperson told. “We are carrying out a short trial in a few stores to look at the impact on bag usage if we remove single-use carrier bags. In these stores, customers who need a bag can still buy a Bag for Life which they can reuse.”

The supermarket said it implements many different trials each year “to see how we can improve our business and serve customers better.”

Tesco’s online customers will still have the option of 5p bags for deliveries, but increasingly people are choosing to go without.

“Our Dotcom delivery service will continue to use single use carrier bags but customers can, of course, choose a ‘bagless’ delivery option.”

Tesco’s Bags of Help scheme will continue and customers can vote in store to choose which local groups they wish to support in store by collecting a blue token.

In October 2015 England became the UK’s last country to start charging for plastic bags.

Pringles and Lucozade Recycling Villains

Pringles tubes and Lucozade Sports bottles are the “villains” of the recycling world, according to The Recycling Association.

Pringles and Lucozade Recycling Villains

The Recycling Association named them in a list of products that pose the biggest challenges for recycling and reuse.

The popular Pringles carton has been replicated by own-brand retailers in what’s become known as the “Pringleisation” of packaging.

With its metal base, plastic cap, metal tear-off lid, and foil-lined cardboard sleeve – Pringles’ combination of materials make the packaging harder to separate and were described in the report as a “nightmare”.

The Lucozade’s bottle is recyclable but, again, its combination of materials featuring a sleeve made from a different kind of plastic makes recycling hard.

Simon Ellin, chief executive of the UK Recycling Association, said: “Improvements are desperately needed in product design.”

UIN what appeared to be in part a personal vision, he outlined what he deemed as the worst recycling offenders:

–           Pringles (and products with similar packaging): “Number One recycling villain. These things are a… nightmare. Impossible to separate the parts.”

–           Lucozade Sport (and drinks with similar packaging): “Number Two villain. This bottle is so confusing to computer scanners that it has to be picked by hand off the recycling conveyor. Then it often just gets chucked away.”

–           Cleaning spray bottles: “Labels often say the product is recyclable, but that’s only the body. The spray has two or three other polymers and a metal spring. It’s almost impossible.”

–           Black plastic food trays: “Supermarkets think black trays make meat look redder so they colour the tray black but that makes it worthless for recycling. Also, if someone leaves the torn film on the tray, with a bloody card below it, we just have to chuck it anyway.”

–           Whisky packaging: “It grieves me to say this as one who likes his whisky but whisky causes us problems. The metal bottom and top to the sleeve, the glass bottle, the metal cap… very hard for us.”

A £1.5m prize for inventors to design products that are practical and easily recycled will soon be launched by Prince Charles.

The Plastics Economy Innovation Prize, promoted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, features innovations in general product design and materials so items are easier to recycle.

Chris Grantham from the London branch of the global design consultancy Ideo, agreed with the findings, saying that Pringles and Lucozade Sport (and brands with similar packaging) were singled out by the industry as almost impossible to recycle.

He also applauded other easily recyclable products such as milk bottles, where suppliers worked together to produce all plastic milk bottles and caps using the same plastic.

Owners of both Pringles and Lucozade responded with the packs’ food waste saving and carbons emissions credentials.

Kelloggs, the owner of Pringles, said there was an environmental advantage to its design.

“All parts of a Pringles can act as a barrier to keep [the crisps] fresh. That means a longer shelf life, which minimises food waste,” a spokesman said.

Lucozade said it was reducing carbon emissions, adding: “We recognise our responsibility to limit our impact on the environment and welcome any technological breakthroughs that support this ambition.”