The packaging industry spans many markets; drink, pharmaceutical, beauty and more and so is regulated by many different forms of legislation and voluntary codes.
The drinks industry
Portman Code
The Portman Code was established in 1989 by the UK’s leading drinks manufacturers to promote sensible alcohol consumption in the UK. In 1996 the group developed a Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Merchandising of Alcoholic Drinks that set the boundaries for the marketing of alcohol in all its forms. Under the code, alcoholic drinks brands can be referred to an independent complaints council to decide whether they are in breach of the voluntary code, which prohibits packaging that incites consumers to drink quickly or unduly emphasises a drink's alcohol content. There must also be no association with illegal drugs, sexual success, bravado or violence. Should the produce be found to be in breach of the code the Portman Group will issue a Retailer Alert Bulletin asking retailers not to stock the product. The group offers a free advisory service with details of how to comply with the code.
Food Labelling
The Food Labelling Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/1499) requires packaging to carry accurate descriptions of the product, including ingredients, place of origin and sell-by date, while there are also laws covering the weights and measures of pre-packed food. More details of which can be found at the Foods Standards Agency.
Most of the major supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose, have adopted the FSA’s traffic light system denoting sugar, fat and salt content. However, Tesco has put forward its own logos without the colour coding system recommended by the FSA.
The packaging industry
Packaging Waste Directive
The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations 1998 put into practice the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. These regulations came into force on 31 May 1998, but enforcement powers did not come into effect until 1 January 1999. A full copy of the report can be obtained from DEFRA
Under the regulations companies with a turnover of more than £2m, which handle more than 50 million tonnes of packaging a year are legally required to register with the Environment Agency or an approved compliance scheme. Failure to do so can result in large fines.
Packaging Strategy
The Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit called for a review of packaging policy and a new food packaging strategy for England in its Food Matters report in July 2008. The resulting Packaging Strategy outlines the state of the packaging industry in the UK and makes “green” recommendations.
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ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION SCHEMES
EMAS
This stands for the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, an initiative designed to improve companies’ environmental performance. EMAS sets the highest environmental standards of all the environmental management schemes (EMS). Its aim is to recognise those organisations that go beyond minimum legal compliance. In addition, it is a requirement of the scheme that participating organisations regularly produce a public environmental statement that reports on their environmental performance. It is this voluntary publication of environmental information, whose accuracy and reliability is independently checked by an environmental verifier, that gives participants in the EMAS scheme enhanced credibility.
IS0 14001
This is an internationally recognised scheme. It provides a framework for environmental awareness, monitoring and continual improvement. The three key areas to be managed are:
- Compliance with environmental regulation
- Prevention of pollution
- Improvement in environmental performance The emphasis on continual improvement means that standards may vary as the longer a printer has been in the ISO14001 scheme, the more progress they will have made.
Green Dragon
This scheme is for Welsh companies that wish to improve their environmental performance but don’t have the resources for ISO14001. There are five levels, each one contributing towards the achievement of international and European environmental standards, ISO 14001 and EMAS. Green Dragon Level 5 is in fact a slightly higher standard than ISO14001, partly because it takes carbon emissions into account.
Greenmark
This was developed by the London Environment Centre (LEC), part of London Metropolitan University and is more appropriate for smaller companies who lack the resources for IS0 14001. All participants enter the scheme at Level One where you must demonstrate that you are taking responsibility for your environmental impacts. Further levels involve recommendations being made and targets being set and met for reducing environmental impact.
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Chain of Custody
If a printer holds the FSC Chain of Custody and the paper being used in a project is FSC certified, the end product can be labelled as FSC certified. This certificate is about the fibre tracking process only and ensures that there is no contamination between FSC and non-FSC material. It is not about environmental standards maintained within the factory.
'Carbon neutral' schemes
Please be aware that so-called ‘carbon neutral’ status is not a good indication of environmental performance. There is currently no regulation in this area and so it can simply be bought through offsetting schemes.
Once CO2 is in the atmosphere, off-setting cannot stop it from changing our climate. Offsetting merely shifts the responsibility for reducing CO2 emissions from ourselves to developing countries. Please ask your printer and paper suppliers what they have done to actually reduce their carbon footprint. Read more
The government is currently setting up a British Kitemark scheme to try to regulate the sector, and the Gold Standard foundation lists carbon offsetters who comply with their quality code.
