"By moving the PRNs and PERNs online, we will be able to track and view the data at the touch of a button. This will also allow us to monitor and follow up any discrepancies with greater speed and efficiency"
Keith Stonell, Project Executive at the Environment Agency
A new and improved website for packaging waste information will help companies to meet packaging recycling regulations and tackle fraud. The revamped site has been launched today by the Environment Agency.
The new National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) website will help companies meet the EU target to recover and recycle 60% of packaging waste generated in the UK by 2008.
Evasion of the packaging waste regulations has been the subject of many court cases in recent times (see MoreThanWaste Regulation section).
Under the old system, the recovery notes were paper-based and so the system was open to potential abuse and fraud. On the new website, electronic Packaging waste Recovery Notes (ePRNs or ePERNs) will be introduced.
Keith Stonell, Project Executive at the Environment Agency, said:
"By moving the PRNs and PERNs online, we will be able to track and view the data at the touch of a button. This will also allow us to monitor and follow up any discrepancies with greater speed and efficiency."
Aims of the website
The website is intended to simplify the submission of data, aid national planning and allow Defra and the UK regulators to closely monitor progress. It will also help to identify potential fraud and 'free riding', where companies avoid meeting their obligations.
Under the Producer Responsibility (Packaging) Regulations, any company involved in the packaging supply chain that has in excess of a £2million turnover and which handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year is obligated to recover and recycle a set level of its packaging waste.
These companies prove they have met their target by obtaining packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) or their export equivalent (PERNs). These recovery notes represent a set amount of packaging waste recycled. Companies can obtain the notes either by recycling the waste themselves or by purchasing them from other companies who may have exceeded their target.
Other new features introduced
- Simplified online data submission
- Online registration for new companies
- Facility to search previously submitted data
- Speedier national data publication as quarterly reports are now automatically generated
- Reduced paperwork as more administrative tasks can be now done online
Evolution of the NPWD
The new NPWD website was funded and developed by a partnership between the industry and the three UK regulators, the Environment Agency, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment and Heritage Service.
The industry body that advises the Minister on issues relating to packaging waste, the Advisory Committee on Packaging, initiated the development of the new system.
The partnership launched a basic website in 1 April 2006, which allowed for the submission of quarterly returns and production of Defra reports. This has been redeveloped and enhanced over the last ten months and has now been handed over to the Environment Agency, which will operate the system and provide further improvements.
Further information
For further information on the National Packaging Waste Database visit the updated website