‘Standing room only’ at Labour Party Conference

Last week (23 September), Alupro hosted an oversubscribed panel event at the Labour Party Conference. In a jam-packed function room at the ACC Liverpool, representatives from across industry, media and government discussed the importance of accelerating progress towards a circular packaging economy.

Alongside collectively outlining the importance of eliminating waste and promoting best practice recycling behaviours to achieve ambitious national targets, key themes discussed included the critical role of a well-designed deposit return scheme (DRS) and why Whitehall should follow Welsh best practices by setting binding recycling targets for local authorities.

The event was mediated by Rachael Burford, chief political correspondent at the Evening Standard, with panellists including Mary Creagh CBE, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Euan Stainbank, MP for Falkirk; Jess Asato, MP for Lowestoft; Allison Ogden-Newton, CEO of Keep Britain Tidy; and Tom Giddings, executive director of Alupro. 

Commenting on the event, Giddings said: “We were delighted to host such a well-attended and thought-provoking panel session at the Labour Party Conference. With standing room only thanks to an audience comprising MPs, councillors, NGOs, trade associations, local authorities and representatives from major brands, including Heineken, Britvic and Budweiser, the event delved into hard-hitting national waste strategies and the importance of influential policy design.

“The superior credentials of aluminium packaging were a major talking point throughout, with the material considered pivotal to maximising recycling rates, minimising waste and ensuring a more circular packaging economy for the UK. MPs were asked to keep aluminium front of mind when designing policy to guarantee widespread positive environmental impact.

“When it comes to the question of ‘how can Labour deliver a truly circular economy’, I think we collectively came up with the answers.”