BPF signs Climate Change Agreement

The plastics industry, including plastic packaging manufacturers, can now claim up to an 80% discount on the Climate Change Levy it pays on electricity and LPG.

BPF director general Peter Davis signed the agreement at the Department for Energy and Climate Change with a senior DECC official.

In July, the BPF encouraged members to sign up to the climate change levy without delay so they could benefit from the discount.

Companies have until 23 October to register for the levy to be eligible for the discount in 2009. Those that miss the deadline will be unable to benefit until 2011.

The industry must achieve a 12% reduction in energy use, based on their 2006 usage, by October 2010, under the agreement.

“We had a setback in January when the EU competition commissioner called for a further investigation into our application, but after the BPF wrote to ministers suggesting modifications were made and these were incorporated into the Budget’s Finance Act and approved by both houses of parliament,” said Davis.

“It has been a long haul, but we got there in the end.”