It follows the government’s decision to introduce a 5p charge on all single-use plastic bags in England from October 2015. The charge will exclude single-use plastic bags given out by small and medium-sized (SME) businesses and paper bags given out by all organisations.
Both the Gwent-based packaging firm and the PEFC say that this move gives the paper and packaging industry a chance to push the usage of fibre-based packaging.
The fibre-based packaging material used to produce the paper bags can be sourced from sustainably managed forests. If sourced from a PEFC certified forest, it can respond to the environmental concerns that many global companies are looking to address.
“With the announcement of this tax for plastic bags, this marks an excellent opportunity for the paper and packaging industry to increase the use of paper-based bags, which are sustainable, renewable, and present an excellent environmental plus over plastic,” said AB Group managing director Dermot Brady.
Paper bags are biodegradable, compostable and recyclable while polythene bags can take up to 100 years to break down.
According to government figures, Britain’s supermarkets hand out seven billion carrier bags every year and paper bags make up less than 0.1% of carrier bags distributed by the seven major supermarkets.
There is already a 5p charge on single-use bags in Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scotland will be introducing a similar charge in October 2014. In Wales, where the levy includes paper bags and applies to all organisations including SMEs, the number of carrier bags given out by the country has already been reduced by 81%.
“We believe that there will be a move to paper as a viable alternative when the 5p plastic bag charge is introduced in England, which will not interrupt business or the consumer,” said Brady.
AB Group Packaging, one of the UK & Ireland’s biggest manufacturers of flexible packaging, produces paper and polythene bags and food packaging products.
Paper bags make up 75% of the firm’s total bag production, with plastic making up the other 25%. Its customers include Primark, TK Maxx, Debenhams, Vodafone, O2 and Clarks.
The firm can also produce 100% recycled products and is dual certified to PEFC and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Chain of Custody certification standards.
It also has IPPC (Integrated Prevention and Pollution Control licences) from the EPA in Ireland and the UK and promotes using UK waste rather than foreign waste for UK recycled bag production via its “full circle UK” system.
