Materials

The British Plastics Federation and the Polymer Machinery Manufacturers and Distributors Association have set up a group to help small plastics processors face business challenges. The packaging sector represents some 10 per cent (around 500) of the total number of the group’s target plastic processors and fabricators, with a turnover below £1m.

“It was worth isolating the group. Everything is coming to bear on them at once,” Iain McIlwee, BFP’s business services manager told Packaging News. He referred to rising energy and material prices and time-consuming regulatory compliance, adding that Eastern Europe and China are always there as a threat, increasing cost pressures.

The BPF online plastics directory is part of a support network that costs around £1 per day.