Mohamed Elkhalifa, Industrial & Public Affairs Manager at the British Plastics Federation, presents the calls to action that the BPF will bring to the government and what these mean ahead of the Budget.
Ahead of his first Budget, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK needs a “culture shift” to perform better. That’s not the PM wagging a finger at industry. He means everything and everyone in the business chain, including government. Indeed, the Prime Minister recently said, “When local leaders have the tools to get things done, and government works in partnership with business, you can pull in investment, create jobs and transform communities.”
The BPF fully supports a close working relationship between government and industry, and our weekly meetings with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) are an example of this. As one of the top three sectors by direct employment in the UK and a top 10 exporter, the plastics industry is a key component of the UK economy. We have seen and continue to see firsthand how a constructive working relationship between government and industry leads to an increase in investment and job creation across all regions of the UK.
A crucial part of business and government interaction is providing government with industry data and information from our biannual Business Conditions Report and direct feedback from our members. This is gathered during the site visits our team carry out throughout the year and at regular networking events, which feed into these meetings and our submissions to government. The Budget provides an excellent opportunity for government to signpost how they can support and work with industry.
This year, based on our member input, we are making the following calls to action:
• Recognise plastics as a foundational industry and complete BICS coverage: Extend foundational industry status (currently cement, glass, ceramics, steel and chemicals) to plastics and widen the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) to cover packaging manufacture, construction products, and the recovery and reprocessing of plastic waste. BICS is worth up to 25% off electricity bills for a sector facing the highest industrial electricity prices in Europe.
• Provide targeted capital support for energy-efficient machinery: Introduce an incentive for SME manufacturers investing in efficient processing equipment: an enhanced first-year allowance, a grant scheme or a reinstated Energy Technology List. The UK’s 14,000 injection moulding machines average over 20 years old and, at last year’s replacement rate, the fleet would take 42 years to renew. New machines cut energy consumption by 60–80%.
• Ring-fence Plastic Packaging Tax receipts for UK recycling infrastructure: Domestic capacity has fallen by approximately 400,000 tonnes since mid-2023, from a base of 1.1 million tonnes. Without reinvestment, the tax will increasingly be met by imported recyclate, and the Exchequer will collect declining revenue from a shrinking industry.
• Rebalance EPR fees and review the Recyclability Assessment Methodology: Plastic is charged £415 per tonne for a green rating against £192 for glass, creating an incentive to switch to heavier, more carbon-intensive designs. Deliver the announced packaging reforms to a firm timetable.
• Restore the skills pipeline: Return apprenticeship standard ST1328 to the £27,000 funding band and allow the Growth and Skills Levy to fund upskilling of the existing workforce with the flexibility SMEs need.
In his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham pledged to “reindustrialise Britain using public procurement to back British industry” and to introduce “a new ten-year plan for Britain”. The BPF hopes the forthcoming Budget will see the start of that plan. As an industry, we have a strong history of working in partnership with government, which we look forward to continuing to develop at this critical juncture for UK manufacturing.
