Packaging Pact names industry expert chairs
The UK Packaging Pact aims to help the sector overcome challenges, reduce costs, shape and implement policy, and accelerate circular solutions.
The industry figures who will chair its five core Industry Expert Groups are:
- Jamie Riley, Head of Sustainability at Robinson Packaging, who chairs the Optimising Packaging Industry Expert Group,
- James Bull, Head of Packaging and Food Waste Strategies at Tesco, who chairs the Scale Reuse and Refill Industry Expert Group,
- Stuart Hayward-Higham, Chief Technical Development & Innovation Officer at SUEZ Recycling & Recovery UK, who oversees the Industry Expert Group in support of Circular Infrastructure Investment,
- Clare Edgar, Head of Packaging at M&S, who chairs the Harmonising Data Industry Expert Group
- Brian Lodge, Director of Packaging at the British Plastics Federation, Chair of the Films and Flexibles Industry Expert Group.
The Industry Expert Groups will hold meetings in the coming months to agree workplans and initiate relevant task and finish groups, and to set out high-level roadmaps for each goal.
Through pre-competitive collaboration and with the support of the Industry Expert Groups, the UK Packaging Pact will seek to:
- Optimise packaging – reduce single-use packaging, remove problematic packaging and promote more recyclable packaging. Encourage right-weighting, reduce virgin fossil-fuel derived materials and increase recycled content.
- Scale reuse and refill – drive interoperable systems to increase the proportion of packaging that is reusable compared to single-use.
- Support infrastructure investment – build reliable evidence base with which to accelerate and unlock new investment for key materials. To identify system bottlenecks and support initiatives to address these across policy reforms, citizen engagement, innovation, collections and processing.
- Harmonise data – simplify data reporting requirements through standardisation and alignment, improving traceability and enabling data-led design and sourcing decisions.
- Film and flexibles - building on the legacy of the UK Plastics Pact roadmap, this dedicated group will drive solutions for hard-to-recycle multi-material films and packaging.
The Chairs will each take a seat on the UK Packaging Pact Advisory Board to provide governance for the Pact, with the Secretariat delivered by NGO WRAP.
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