New Year's Message From BPF Director General

“As we enter a new decade we all hope the worst of the recession has past, but it will be quite sometime until business levels get back to the levels reached in late 2007 / early 2008. The BPF is this month surveying all its member companies to find out how they are faring in the recession and how they see business conditions in 2010 and will be discussing the findings in a meeting with the Bank of England on 27th January.

A huge shadow over the UK economy is the £187 billion Government public sector borrowing which requires every man, woman and child this year to pay £500 just to pay the interest. Even before bank bail outs the BPF was criticising the Government's high borrowing. The public sector and its quangoes have increased their employees from 5 million to 6 million since 1997. Real action to cut the public sector seems unlikely until after the General Election, increasing the risk of higher taxes on business. We will fight the proposed big increase in NICS for April 2011.

Although the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit failed to achieve a binding agreement, the BPF's Climate Change Agreement means this year we shall achieve from 267 company sites carbon savings of 152,257 tonnes. This is equivalent to filling sixty seven Wembley Stadium! - a great environmental achievement. The Copenhagen summit was never going to address a key cause of climate change - rapid population growth which we see across the world and here in our own country. Although worrying, there are opportunities for Plastics in: construction of more homes; utilities, pipework and water storage; food and drink packaging, and agriculture.

The last decade ended on a positive note for plastics innovation. On 15th December the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, 50% of which is made from plastic composites, giving a 20% fuel saving, made a successful maiden flight. The first manned solar powered airplane, "Solar Impulse", made its historic maiden flight in Switzerland on 3rd December. The airplane makes extensive use of high performance plastic products including polymer lithium batteries. Our Government published Strategy papers on Composites and Plastic Electronics. The BPF will play a full part in both.

Even in Venice the city council wants the famous candy stripe wooden canal poles replaced with plastic ones.

I hope we are entering a decade where UK Plastics manufacturing is valued and encouraged by Government and Plastics are recognised as making a huge contribution to our daily lives, and providing solutions to the challenge of climate change.”

ENDS