Amendments to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations have been published, confirming the glass recycling targets up to the year 2017.
On 14th March 2014, DEFRA confirmed that glass recycling target had been lowered, from 81% in 2013 to 75% in an effort to remove some of the volatility and pressure that was being placed on the market to meet the existing targets. This was good news for producers, who saw their obligations decrease as a result and 2014 has seen increased stability in the market pricing. For 2015 onwards, the overall glass target will rise by 1% per year, until it reaches 77% in 2016.
The revised targets for 2014 also confirmed the aggregate/remelt split. This year, the remelt target (how many PRNs have to be purchased via remelt recycling) was set at 65%. The new amendments confirm that this will be increasing in 1% increments until 2016, but then will remain at 67% for 2017.
Material specific recycling targets for 2012 onwards:
Material |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
Glass |
81% |
81% |
75% |
76% |
77% |
77% |
Aluminium |
40% |
43% |
46% |
49% |
52% |
55% |
Steel |
71% |
72% |
73% |
74% |
75% |
76% |
Paper/Board |
69.5% |
69.5% |
69.5% |
69.5% |
69.5% |
69.5% |
Plastic |
32% |
37% |
42% |
47% |
52% |
57% |
Wood |
22% |
22% |
22% |
22% |
22% |
22% |
Glass remelt recycling targets for 2013 onwards:
Year |
Remelt recycling target |
2013 |
63% |
2014 |
65% |
2015 |
66% |
2016 |
67% |
2017 |
67% |
ecosurety was pleased to see the decrease in the glass recycling target earlier this year, as overall it has led to lower PRN costs for our members. The confirmation of the targets for future years is positive as we believe they are achievable whereas the previous target of 81% was too high, causing high PRN pricing and overachievement against the EU targets.
The team at ecosurety are working as hard as ever to achieve the best possible PRN rates for our members and have begun contracting PRN supply in preparation for the 2015 compliance year. If you have any questions around PRN pricing or would like to discuss your business’s specific requirements in further detail, please call us on 0845 094 2228 or email info@ecosurety.com.

James Piper
Non-executive director
James Piper is a non-executive director of Ecosurety, having previously taken on the role of CEO for nearly five years when he was now focused on leading the development of new products and services that not only benefited producers, but helped to drive change for good and a positive impact on UK recycling.

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