Food processor ABP has announced its inclusion as a founding member of the UK Plastics Pact announcement, an initiative launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
This is a collaboration which brings together businesses from across the entire plastics value chain with the UK Government and Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to tackle the scourge of plastic waste. All of ABP’s beef and lamb processing sites across the UK will be involved in the initiative.
ABP is one of 42 businesses, including a number of food, drink and non-food brands, manufacturers and retailers right through to plastic re-processors and packaging suppliers, to have made a commitment to the pact.
This collective has committed to hit a series of ambitious targets by 2025, which include eliminating problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging through redesign, innovation or alternative (re-use) delivery models.
The pact wants 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable; 70% of plastic packaging to be effectively recycled or composted; and a 30% average of recycled content across all plastic packaging – all by the 2025 target date.
The immediate focus for the UK Plastics Pact will be on identifying the priority projects that will deliver greatest impacts in the short and long term, such as overcoming barriers to increasing the amount of recycled content used in new packaging, developing reusable packaging and working with partners to overcome the issue of un-recyclable black plastic.
Dean Holroyd, group technical and sustainability director, ABP Food Group, said: “At ABP we are committed to doing all possible to minimise the impact of plastic on the environment. We see this as a great challenge and a huge opportunity to collaborate with other like-minded businesses to make a real and tangible difference in the fight against plastic.”
WRAP CEO, Marcus Gover, added: “Together, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rethink and reshape the future of plastic so that we retain its value, and curtail the damage plastic waste wreaks on our planet. This requires a wholescale transformation of the plastics system and can only be achieved by bringing together all links in the chain under a shared commitment to act.”
