ENER-Plast survey reveals low awareness of European Energy Legislation

The ENER-Plast Project consortium has just conducted a EU-wide survey that will allow the ENER-Plast project to gauge the level of understanding, attitudes and practices towards energy and environmental legislation within the EU. The results show that only 60% of respondents were aware of existing legislation covering energy supply in their country, with 42% believing that their national policy does not comply with current EU legislation.

ENER-Plast is a European Community funded project, supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme. The objective of ENER-Plast is to provide the European polymer and its associated industries with the information, resources and tools needed to reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact.
It is the belief of many firms that future legislation will increase both competition and increase the costs of ‘doing business’, though most companies are aware that future legislation could encourage further investment in efficient machinery, for instance.

An overwhelming 94% of respondents believed that the EU-27 should harmonize legislation, mainly to achieve a level playing field for businesses across Europe. Remaining competitive is a key driver within industry, with 63% of respondents suggesting that profit is a key driver in reducing energy consumption. However, of all the companies surveyed, 74% had an Environmental / Energy policy, but only 39% of these companies having a dedicated ‘Energy Manager’ to oversee implementation.

It is the belief that it is the responsibility of all companies to address CO2 reduction (71%) and that legislation can only go so far to improving energy efficiency – companies have to see a clear financial benefit to their investment and improvement.

ENER-Plast will again survey manufacturers towards the end of the project, to assess how changing legislation is affecting day-to-day business within the plastics industry.

Further information on the ENER-Plast project can be found at www.enerplast.eu.

ENDS

For further information on this press release, please contact Tim Marsden, British Plastics Federation, 6 Bath Place, Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3JE, tel 020 7457 5017, fax 020 7457 5045, email: [email protected]

Notes for editors:

1) British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the UK trade association for the plastics industry - representing the whole supply chain including polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.

2) For more information on the project, please see www.enerplast.eu or contact [email protected].