With the UK government’s commitment to reach net zero and reduce the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions by 100% from 1990 levels by 2050, Actikem have placed sustainability and carbon reduction at the top of their business priorities.
Actikem have a management programme to drive sustainability in their business and have been working in the background to reduce their carbon emissions since 2016. One project is already having benefits for their business, the planet and for customers and their employees.
Actikem have been looking for ways to reduce the amount of virgin plastics they use in their business. For many years Actikem have been recycling many of their plastic Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBC) and offer customers the choice of using recycled or new IBC’s for their products.
In April 2022 the UK Government introduced the Plastic packaging tax (PPT), an environmental tax designed to provide a financial incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging. This new tax added £200 per tonne on plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into the UK, that does not contain at least 30% recycled plastic and in the spring budget the chancellor confirmed that this tax would increase to £210.82 per tonne from 01 April 2023 in line with CPI.
Actikem can now offer customers an IBC that is exempt of this plastic packaging tax, so is lower in cost than new virgin plastic IBC’s and is using recycled plastics. These IBC’s can also be used for industries where the use of recycled plastic is resticted.
Trevor Gleave, Actikem’s Operations Director said, “the introduction of these more sustainable packaging solutions is great for our business. It offers customers better value, helps improve our environmental impact and gives our employees a sense of empowerment in how they can really impact for good on society”.
Actikem are working with suppliers to expand their offering of more sustainable packaging types and hope to have a similar story to tell with more sustainable plastic drums later this year.
Actikem are a contract chemical manufacturing, formulation and repackaging business, servicing the UK and European chemical and allied industries. For more information email sales@actikem.com