So Birmingham had it all last week, the Horse of the Year Show, the Conservative Party Conference AND the annual LARAC Conference and Celebration Awards.
The hottest ticket in town was for the sold out LARAC get together, showing how important knowledge transfer, networking and not-working remain in such a vibrant sector.
But despite the energy in the rooms, I couldn’t help but fear that we’re all in danger of missing out if plans don’t soon turn into action. The UK resources sector has been on the threshold of change for what feels like an eternity and if you care to look over your shoulder, you’ll see it was 2018 when Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) were first discussed by UK Government, 2019 when Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reforms were first consulted upon. In late 2022 the story on EPR is becoming a little clearer, whereas on DRS the Government is yet to release the summary of responses to its 2021 consultation.
However since 2018 we’ve had three UK Prime Ministers (at the time of writing!) and countless Ministers responsible for resources and waste management. Whilst the current packaging recovery system in the UK is not broken, there comes a point when the confidence of participants falls away. Why invest time, money and energy in something that ultimately will be replaced. Maybe that time has come now.
What business needs, and in this regard, I treat local authority recycling and recovery services in exactly the same way – is certainty. Certainty that future market conditions will exist or a least a high degree of probability. As the world’s largest recycler of aluminium and a company that globally recycles 74 billion used aluminium drink cans every year, our focus is clear. Having similar clarity on how the UK market will develop in the next few years whether through DRS or EPR or variations therein can only be helpful for all parties.
So where do we go from here. For Novelis the focus remains on the quality that is needed so that new can sheet is produced to the exacting standards which the industry demands. Improvements to quality look probable through both EPR and DRS, so let’s get on with it. We are seeing implementation of both these policies across many near neighbour countries, so it would be a shame for the UK to fall further behind. But maybe for the mental wellbeing of everyone involved in our vibrant industry – moving on from the current impasse would be a helpful next step. So here’s to a clearer future for the UK resources sector.
Fingers crossed!
