The consultation document is part of the development of a waste prevention programme that would support the Welsh ‘Towards Zero Waste’ strategy.

As part of the scheme a blanket 5p charge has already been applied to shoppers for all plastic bags significantly cutting their circulation and the Welsh government, which is carrying out the consultation, has said it wants to build this success by exploring opportunities for similar schemes in packaging.

However a spokesman said there were no short or mid-term plans to introduce such a charge but that the proposal was just one of a number that were being considered.

He added: "We will build upon the success of voluntary initiatives such as the Courtauld Commitment which has made significant progress in helping retailers achieve ambitious waste reduction and recycling targets.

"We are also looking to enhance our support for manufacturers in Wales to help them increase productivity and competitiveness by creating products that use less in terms of resources and can be recycled more easily."

Plastic, paper and card packaging, particularly relating to food, are identified in the consultation as a "priority waste stream" and that there would be a "continued emphasis on optimising packaging through supply chain actions".

It states: "The focus should be on right weighting, which means designing packaging which uses the minimum quantity of material possible whilst retaining the integrity of the product it contains."

The document highlights "significant progress in the packaging surrounding food products in recent years" but says that more work needs doing.

It continues: "Work will also be extended to non-food consumer goods, and to secondary and tertiary packaging used to transport and store goods.

"The packaging waste generated by online shopping, which has increased significantly over recent years, will also be tackled."
 
Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle said he didn’t think any kind of charge would ever be applied to packaging. He added: "Firstly the logistics of it would be an absolute nightmare. Wales is part of the UK so what would they do - ring fence it?

"But also to put a deposit on something like food packaging would be highly irresponsible because apart form anything else, what stage would the charge be applied? Transit packaging? Goods that are packaged in store?

"Or if it were only applied to retail packaging and shoppers were encouraged to buy loose, then that is the height of irresponsibility because it would substantially increase food wastage.

"I think when the Welsh government actually looks at the science and impact they will very quickly discount it," he added. Andrew Coker, director of stakeholder engagement for Asia Pulp & Paper said said that the real focus of the consultation was to continue the drive for efficiency in packaging.
 
He added: "To ensure that packaging continues to meet the needs of the modern world the wider industry needs to take an approach that looks at the full cycle of efficient packaging: minimal renewable resource consumption in production, product protection, transport efficiency, display efficiency and effective after-use disposal and recycling.

"Opening the debate on efficiency in packaging is something that is welcomed and will only lead to more innovation in product design and we welcome the opportunity to participate," he said.

Responses to the consultation must be submitted by 20 June 2013 with the final Waste Prevention document is scheduled to be published on 12 December.

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