Defra has said that businesses that collect or sort glass and meet End of Waste Criteria may be allowed to issue a PRN.
In its recent Implications for the UK Packaging Waste System report on the adoption of the EU End of Waste Regulation for Glass Cullet, it said that following the adoption of these regulations, a new group of businesses may be able to show that they have recovered waste glass and therefore will be eligible to apply to be an accredited reprocessor under the packaging regulations.
Businesses that are currently accredited as glass reprocessors or exporters under the Packaging Regulations will continue to be eligible to be accredited and able to issue PRNs, but only on material they receive which is still waste.
Despite concerns that an operator might be accredited for the EU End of Waste Regulations on glass cullet but not issue a PRN, Defra argued that “operators who invest in quality management systems and have sought approval from the relevant body to achieve the end of waste criteria are unlikely to forego the revenue stream available from issuing PRNs. We do not, therefore expect many operators will seek to meet the end of waste criteria without also becoming accredited to issue PRNs.”
By issuing PRNs earlier in the supply chain, Defra warned that this will affect the flow of money through the recycling chain and the value of material at different points in the chain.
It said that if the PRN can be issued at an earlier point in the chain for material that achieves the EU End of Waste Criteria, the amount that a remelt reprocessor is willing to pay for a product after that point is likely to be lower as only the income from the sale of the material will be obtained and not any PRN revenue.
But is said: “If the system is working efficiently, it should not matter to a handler of the material whether a PRN has already been issued since the prices paid will reflect whether or not a PRN has been issued. The remelt reprocessor would sell their output for the same price in either case. Whether they receive the additional PRN income would depend on whether they issued the PRN or whether this was done at an earlier point in the recycling chain.”
