BBIA annual conference to address future of UK waste policy

The Bio-based and Biodegradable Industries Association (BBIA) will be once again holding its annual conference in London to discuss the future of the resources and waste industry.

The event, called ‘Everything is Connected’, will take place on 25 February at Regent’s University in London, bringing together key figures and experts from across the resources and waste sector.

The past year has seen concerted action from government on the policy front regarding resources and waste, introducing the long-awaited Resources and Waste Strategy at the end of 2018, and featuring resources and waste prominently in its ‘far-reaching’ Environment Bill, reintroduced to Parliament last week.

The Strategy outlines a significant reshaping of the UK’s resources and waste ecosystem, with consultations conducted over the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging, a deposit return scheme (DRS) for single-use drinks containers, consistency of household recycling collections and a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30 per cent recycled content.

The BBIA event will seek to address questions regarding how the policies in the Strategy will reshape the UK’s resources sector, especially in the context of the UK’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and its departure from the EU.

The day will see a mixture of keynote presentations on these issues followed by Q&A sessions and expert panels on specific policies, featuring high-profile speakers from government, the waste management industry, retailers and local authorities.

Confirmed speakers include representatives from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Treasury. There will also be keynote speeches from: Peter Jones, Principal Consultant at Eunomia research and consulting; Felix Gummer, Director at Sancroft International; Jane Bevis, Chair of the On-Pack Recycling Label (OPRL) scheme; Kathryn Nichols and Judy Proctor from the Environment Agency; and Paul Chin, Sustainable Materials Specialist at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Commenting on the event, David Newman, BBIA Managing Director, said: “The BBIA meeting is fortuitously the first public meeting of the resource and packaging sector since the new government was elected last December. With officials from BEIS, Defra and Treasury present, we can try to understand better how ministerial teams are dealing with the questions we face on the direction of our industries over the next decade.

“The meeting will see all the most important interests of the resource sector represented, including waste, packaging and food waste, as well as a session on how new rules are going to impact who pays for the reforms of legislation governing how we manage our waste.

“Change is happening so quickly, across the political, social and technological spectra that I sympathise with government officials having to face the task of regulating fluid and variable scenarios. We need to find a happy compromise between pushing forward and growing the industries we have today and allowing space for innovation and technological change, which will happen regardless of legislation. The key will be how to govern these rapidly evolving processes. It will be a fascinating debate!”

For more information on the BBIA annual conference and to book tickets, visit the BBIA website.