ACP chairman Turner to stand down at end of 2009

In an exclusive interview with Packaging News, Turner said the biggest achievement during his time as chairman was helping to ensure the packaging recovery note (PRN) system worked as planned, but recognised there were still challenges to get that message across.

“There are some local authorities that say the PRN doesn’t work and some producers that pay hefty amounts. As a market system that it will not be completely transparent to everyone, but we do need some categories for reporting what has been done with the money,” said Turner.

But, he said despite what some people think, the system had proved to be a success. “The original objective was to engineer UK packaging waste compliance to achieve 2008 targets with the lowest cost to industry and we’ve done that.”

Turner pointed to the situation with steel recovery in the last year as an example of how the market system responded to help meet targets. “At the beginning of the year, there was doom and gloom and it looked as if we would never meet targets. But PRN prices shot up and people started selling,” he said.

Turner said the introduction of the national packaging waste database to improve the transparency and accountability of the system was another achievement. He acknowledged the role of his predecessor, Peter Parker, and Sheila McKinley in laying the foundations for the system.

Turner took on the role of ACP chairman after stepping down as chief executive of packaging compliance scheme Valpak. He also worked as manufacturing and purchasing director at Coca-Cola and Schweppes beverages.

He completed two three-year terms and was asked to remain for a seventh year to help oversee the introduction of the packaging strategy. The decision not to apply for a further term is to allow Turner to concentrate on other business interests.

National recycling policy

Going forward, he said it was important to deliver on the packaging strategy and ensure local authorities addressed quality issues in packaging waste collections.

“There should be a national initiative to ensure all local authorities are doing broadly the same thing. The current system offers tools to local authorities [to structure collections] but some are still not collecting all packaging waste,” he said.

But, Turner said the UK had come a long way. “Other European countries used to laugh at the UK’s recycling, but now they are seeing the benefits of our PRN-based scheme,” he said.

The ACP secretariat is currently interviewing candidates for the position of chair and is likely to announce Turner’s replacement in January. This will allow for the consultation on recycling targets up to 2020 to be completed early in the new year.

Turner was voted into 44th place in this year’s Packaging News Power 50.

Click here for today’s headlines from across the packaging industry

Popular Articles