The UK plastics industry: A strategic vision for growth

The British Plastics Federation (BPF) has launched a document outlining a strategy to keep the UK a key player in the global plastics industry.

The UK plastics industry: A strategic vision for growth was developed over the past 18 months and involved close consultation with 40 leading companies from across the plastics industry supply chain through a series of workshops facilitated by the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing.

The document identifies seven key areas to promote growth, highlighting the key opportunities and challenges facing the industry. The key areas include: promotion of the plastics industry, skills and education, securing feedstock, sustainability, exporting and reshoring, enhanced industry collaboration and identifying future markets.

Work on this document was supported by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (now known as Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) and it is intended to help inform the government’s overall industrial strategy.

The UK plastics industry: A strategic vision for growth makes a number of requests to government including:

• recognition of plastics as a strategic material of national importance
• continuation of UKTI support for exporters within the plastics sector
• support on the continued inclusion of plastics/polymers within the National Curriculum
• green procurement policies to incentivise the use of recycled materials
• a periodic review of raw material tariffs

BPF president David Hall states: 

This is a £23.5bn industry that employs 170,000 people in the UK. As one of the largest employment sectors in the whole of UK manufacturing, it is crucial our industry has a clear roadmap in order to capitalise on the opportunities that lie ahead. By providing a massive contribution to energy savings through the lightweighting of vehicles and aircraft and through the performance characteristics of plastics building components, plastics are set to be the material of the 21st century – and the BPF wants to ensure that the UK plastics industry remains at the forefront of these exciting developments.

BPF Director General Philip Law states: 

The seven key areas identified in this document are relevant across the entire plastics industry. We will be asking our member firms to use this publication as a basis for discussion with their local MPs and financial stakeholders. The BPF itself will be targeting ministers and civil servants with the fundamental message that the UK’s ambition for global growth on the back of high value manufacturing is simply not possible unless it is underpinned by a thriving plastics industry.

To download The UK plastics industry: A strategic vision for growth visit: 

https://www.bpf.co.uk/plastics-strategy/default.aspx

ENDS

For all media enquiries, BPF logos and images please contact [email protected] or 0207 457 5007

Notes for editors:

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.