Packaging waste

The UK produces around 10 million tonnes of packaging waste every year, most of which is disposed of in landfill sites. Packaging waste is a significant part (7–10%) of the waste produced in the UK.

Sixty one percent of the UK’s packaging waste was recovered in 2008, compared with only 27% in 1998.  Over ten years this is a significant achievement, however continued efforts are required in order to reduce the environmental impact of packaging without compromising its ability to protect the product.  Defra’s new packaging strategy, Making the Most of Packaging , outlines the direction of packaging policy for the next ten years.

The EC Directive on Packaging & Packaging Waste (94/62 EC) aims to minimise this disposal by setting targets for recycling and recovering packaging waste. From 2001, targets were set for at least 50% of the UK's packaging waste to be re-utilised through recycling and other recovery methods.

The Scottish Government  has a commitment to a zero waste Scotland. The Zero Waste Plan outlines how we can increase levels of recycling and an overall reduction in the amount of waste we produce by the year 2020.

The following sections introduce the regulations and help your business determine whether you need to register. Information on the National Packaging Database; public registers, accredited reprocessors & exporters and the monitoring strategy are provided together with links to further useful information.