Business

Packaging News readers are divided on whether government should take the British Plastics Federation's (BPF) advice and appoint a cabinet-level energy minister.

Commentators in this week’s Soap Box debate agreed that energy prices and security were a huge issue facing the UK packaging industry, an extra cabinet minister may not be the solution.

However, they have come out in favour of increased investment in energy from waste plants, such as those currently being proposed by a consultation document prepared for London Mayor Boris Johnson.

The debate came in the wake of BPF chief executive Peter Davis’s call last week for Gordon Brown to appoint an energy minister to the top level of government.

One reader, going under the pseudonym Pack Man, responded: “BERR already has an energy minister, Malcolm Wicks. I’m not sure whether his presence in the cabinet would do anything apart from allow the PM to say ‘see, we are taking energy seriously’.”

Another, Julie Elliott, argued that having an energy minister would make little difference to the actual price of oil, gas and electricity. She added: “But I do think we need to think about alternative forms of supply, especially energy from waste.”

A third reader, Design Diva, added: “If an energy minister is appointed, I think their first job should be to invest in energy from waste. We need energy and we don’t want to send stuff to landfill – it seems like the perfect solution.”

Is energy from waste the solution to the UK’s energy security and prices? Click here to visit this week’s Soap Box and join the debate.