Policy Commission: A Future for Sustainable Plastics

The Birmingham Plastics Network Policy Commission has brought together voices from across the plastics landscape to develop a set of well informed, evidence-based, policy recommendations which will promote a sustainable future for plastics in the UK, enhancing the positive contributions that plastics make to our lives whilst minimising the negative impacts across their life cycle.

A call for systematic change

We have engaged with the plastics waste problem holistically, comprehensively, considering economic, environmental, social and ecological impacts, developing comprehensive and evidence-based recommendations for an issue which has seen the same low-impact solutions presented for decades.

What is a Policy Commission?

A Policy Commission is a tried and tested method to achieving systemic change within and beyond Government, and the University of Birmingham has a track record of delivering them successfully.

Our recommendations

Our recommendations include revalorising plastic ‘waste’ to support green growth and incentivise the emergence of next generation plastics production and recycling technologies; encouraging best practices in public sector procurement, including protocols on plastics life cycle assessments; and establishing a national sustainable plastics innovation research centre to drive innovation and encourage long-term, ambitious thinking. Watch our video to hear them all.

The Birmingham Plastics Network Policy Commission.

Baroness Meacher talks about the aims of the The Birmingham Plastics Network Policy Commission

Transcript

I'm Baroness Meacher, Chair of the University of Birmingham Policy Commission on Sustainable Plastics I have been absolutely thrilled to lead on such a very important and exciting piece of work and working alongside such a wonderful team of experts.

My name is Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker I am the director of The Institute for STEMM and Culture and Society, but I'm also the co-lead for the Birmingham Plastics Network Policy Commission. This commission has really enabled us to get to grips with what is a very complex multi-layered problem.

I'm Andrew Dove, I'm a professor of Sustainable Polymer Chemistry at the University of Birmingham and I'm one of the co-leads of the Birmingham Plastics Network. Our recommendations cover all aspects of the Plastics life cycle from sourcing, to use, to reuse, to end of life. And our recommendations are designed to create meaningful change for the UK. In one recommendation we're focusing on recommending stringent and ambitious targets to reduce land filling and incineration of plastic waste. In another recommendation we're focusing on redefining the definition of waste to stop it from becoming waste when there is no known use for it at the end of its life, in that way we can incentivize the circular economy which will help polymeric carbon stay as polymeric carbon and help us reduce emissions and Achieve Net Zero.

The UK's 2022 plastic packaging tax was an important step in ensuring that circular practices are followed, but we can now introduce a sliding scale tax so that companies that exceed the 30% threshold are rewarded but there must be appropriate measures to mitigate against fraud.

Another key finding of the policy commission is that we really need to be more robust in the way that we regulate the marketing of biodegradable and compostable plastics. There's a lot of confusion out there- we really need to tighten up the way these terms are used.

The commission found that there is mounting evidence that plastic pollution can lead to environmental and human health harms, but that evidence is incomplete we need to build the evidence-based further to enable conclusions to be drawn. We also need to go further and we could consider things like environmental migration limits for additives in plastics, but also to make sure that we don't end up making mistakes through regrettable substitution of one additive for another additive that may actually be equally as harmful.

One of the recommendations that we made in our report is to look at the way in which the public sector can use its procurement power to engender change in the plastic sector so we don't need everything to be about taxation there can be other ways in which the public sector can incentivise change in the UK.

Extended producer responsibility is due to be introduced to the UK in 2025 it seeks to ensure that producers are responsible for the end of life fate of their products whilst this is initially intended for the packaging area we advocate for this being extended to other areas in which plastics are used.

To support the plastic industry to adjust the government needs to consider corresponding investments in plastics and waste management to ensure sufficient supply of recycled plastic.

One of the key findings with the policy commission was a recommendation to found a National Centre for Excellence for sustainable plastics. This would provide an opportunity to bring together all of the different people who need to be involved in finding future solutions for plastics in the UK. By collectively working together we can showcase that plastics can be part of a low carbon future for the UK. This is not a problem that can be solved by one group of people alone.

The Birmingham Plastics Network alongside the Commissioners will continue to work to develop policy in this area and try to implement meaningful change.

A sustainable future for plastics is mandatory for our economy and the environment. It is also essential for our journey towards net zero we must not let the conversation stop here.

Read the Policy Commission: A Future for Sustainable Plastics

Chaired by Baroness Meacher, Crossbench Peer for the House of Lords, our Commissioners are experts in plastics for their relevant sector. Their broad expertise and insights result in thoughtful, evidence-based recommendations to government.

The Policy Commission report

The Team

We are privileged to have Baroness Meacher, Crossbench Peer for the House of Lords, as the Chair for this Commission. Baroness Meacher is passionate about the impacts of plastics in society and advocates strongly for the need for new and improved interventions in this space.

We are also grateful to work with a range of Commissioners who are experts in plastics for their relevant sector and provide us with a broad range of expertise to ensure that the Commission covers the appropriate breadth and depth required to recommend thoughtful, evidence-based policy interventions to government.

See a full list of Commissioners below:

Baroness Meacher, Chair
Dr Sally Beken, Founder and Lead at UK Circular Plastics Network
Professor Andrew Dove, Sustainable Polymer Chemist and Co-Lead at Birmingham Plastics Network, University of Birmingham
Simon Ellin, Previous CEO of the Recycling Association
Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker, Director of the Research Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society, and Co-Lead at Birmingham Plastics Network, University of Birmingham
Judit Guerra-Falcon, Technical Affairs and Circular Economy Manager, Plastics Europe
Professor Stefan Krause, Professor of Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry, and member of the Birmingham Plastics Network, University of Birmingham
Keith James, Head of Policy & Insights at WRAP
Professor Richard Lampitt, Professor at National Oceanography Centre, Biogeochemist
Brian Lodge, Director of Packaging at British Plastics Federation
Professor John McGeehan, Independent Consultant for plastics recycling, upcycling, and redesign
Asim Shah, Managing Director at S2C: Supply Chain Sustainability Consulting
Professor Ian Thomson, Professor of Accounting and Sustainability, University of Dundee, and member of the Birmingham Plastics Network

What's next for the Commission?

The Commission has launched its Policy Commission Report in the House of Commons, and we are now working with industry, government, NGO and academic stakeholders to work towards implementing our recommendations.

If you have any questions about the Policy Commission or would like to get involved with the realisation of our recommendations, please get in touch with plasticsnetwork@contacts.bham.ac.uk, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Plastic: a call to action report

Plastic pollution poses an ever increasing threat to both humanity and our planet on a global scale. To combat this threat, we need to drastically improve how we manage plastic.

Published in January 2023, our recent report outlines the whole systems approach required to achieve a sustainable future for plastic.

Read our Call to Action Report, a catalyst for the development of our Commission activity and our report 'A Sustainable Future for Plastics: UK Public and Political Attitudes'.

Read the report