Environment

Packaging organisations and local government officials are preparing a joint letter to explain the workings of the recycling system to consumers.

Jane Bickerstaffe, director of the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (Incpen), is drawing up the letter following meetings between several organisations in the past few weeks.

Lacors (the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services) and Larac (Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee) are among the other organisations involved in the initiative, along with the Local Government Association and waste reprocessors.

Bickerstaffe said it made sense for the whole packaging supply chain to be able to provide consistent information to consumers about recycling.

"The retailers and waste collection authorities – the two ends of the supply chain directly next to the consumer – both said they get letters from consumers asking about recycling," she said.

Meanwhile, Amcor and Kellogg's have become the latest big names from the packaging and FMCG worlds to join Incpen.

The latest additions take Incpen's membership to around 30 companies across the packaging supply chain, including retailers, brand owners and packaging manufacturers.

They join companies such as DS Smith, Tetra Pak, Rexam, Unilever, Diageo, Coca-Cola, and Marks & Spencer, which became an Incpen member earlier this year.