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Packaging Federation chief Dick Searle has blasted the government for "outrageous political meddling" against packaging in a new document on environmentally friendly behaviour.

Searle said the Framework for Pro-Environmental Behaviours, published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), made "almost no overt reference" to packaging with "one huge exception" – a pledge to increase producer responsibility for packaging.

The 109-page document identifies 12 headline behavioural goals, including more recycling and less food waste, and is based on Defra research last year.

However, it only mentions packaging twice, one of them being the producer responsibility pledge, which Searle said appeared to have been "added solely to pursue a political agenda without the burden of any supporting facts within the report as a whole".

He has urged Packaging Federation members to raise the issue when talking to Defra or politicians "so we can expose it as a naked political intervention that undermines the integrity of the document as a whole".

"It's taking a scientific study and stuffing in a political point about packaging," he said.

Click here for more on the framework from Defra.

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THE 12 HEADLINE BEHAVIOURAL GOALS
• Use more efficient vehicles
• Use your car less for short trips
• Avoid unnecessary short-haul flights
• Use water responsibly
• Install insulation
• Install microgeneration
• Manage your energy usage
• Recycle more
• Waste less food
• Buy energy-efficient products
• Eat more food that is grown locally in season
• Adopt a lower-impact diet