Kite is the only UK packaging distributor with an in-house Government-Accredited Packaging Compliance Scheme. Moreover, they are the only business in its sector that is employee share-owned. Naturally, an expansive industry knowledge teamed with a drive for excellent customer service delivers winning results every time, making Kite the pioneering force that your business wants to partner with. From its founding, the company has demonstrated a long-standing dedication to an environmental agenda by looking to minimise the impact of packaging on the environment. This was reinforced with the most recent milestone of the company’s achievement of carbon neutrality in 2021. With the incoming introduction of a Plastic Packaging Tax on 1st April 2022, Kite is fully equipped with both the broad and specific understandings necessary to provide the most transparent and conclusive service possible to serve their customers and of course, our planet.
The tax of £200 per tonne of all packaging deemed predominantly plastic by weight will omit any items that have equal to or greater than 30% recycled content. It will incorporate all plastics manufactured in the UK or imported into the country. The government website explains that this will provide a “clear economic incentive” for businesses to use recycled materials, which should in turn spur greater demand for these products and encourage increased levels of recycling.
These practices will divert plastic waste away from landfill. Additionally, a reduction in the production of virgin plastic will be prompted, laying the foundations for a systematic decrease of single-use plastic packaging. Businesses should note that they will pay no tax on products supplied by Kite with less than the stipulated 30%, though there will be an increase in the selling price to reflect this change.
To guide you through these alterations and offer specialised advice, customers of the distributor can access Kite Environmental Solutions (KES) which is a Government-Accredited Compliance Scheme. Historically, this team of industry experts has been focused on interpreting how Packaging Waste Regulations may affect your business, identifying the information you need to source, developing a bespoke system to assess your obligation and calculating the packaging weights you need to declare in each of your packaging streams. In light of the new tax, this team will apply the same meticulous approach to best provide a Data Management Service in relation to the Plastic Packaging Tax, whilst the regional teams at Kite Packaging can advise you on packaging your products in an environmentally conscious and economically smart manner. Supported by our packaging engineers and technologists, Kite can optimise your entire system or offer methodical adjustments that address the personalised requirements of your business.
The new Mobile Packaging Laboratory (MPL), the only one of its kind in the UK, further facilitates the highly personalised service that Kite offers to its customers. The hi-tech vehicle was launched in late 2021 and is already producing transformative results for their client base. On board, there are professional testing facilities to establish the effectivity of boxed packaging in addition to stretch wrap performance testing. Thus, the entirety of your business’s packaging operation can be assessed on the MPL with the results able to be displayed and discussed the same day. The outcomes calculate effectivity versus cost and environmental impact; performance films are a particular spotlight product that typically helps reduce a company’s spending while significantly reducing their plastic usage. An array of Kite’s top packaging solutions are available for comparative demonstrations by the team of experts present on the day.
In order to mitigate the tax, you can choose from a plentiful supply of recycled plastic products or paper alternatives already available on Kite’s online website or request bespoke sustainable solutions from one of our RDCs. Kite currently has stocked paper mailing bags, gummed paper tape, paper cushioning and decorative paper fillers, to name just a few of the sustainable swaps available through the ecommerce site. The company has recently introduced an exciting twist on their bestselling product Hivewrap: Hivefill. The same structural strength of the hexagon is utilised toward void filling within a box as opposed to directly wrapping around products. The new dispenser has a bespoke funnel designed to expand the honeycomb cells while interlocking them into each other to form a shock absorbent pack. This system is now the most economic paper void fill on the market. The paper itself is 100% recyclable and biodegradable, which combined with the aesthetic texture and innovation of the product will satisfy all modern ecommerce customers. The rolls are easy to load onto a vertical spindle, making this a highly efficient, cost-effective and eco-friendly initiative.
To cater toward the recycled plastic packaging approach to the tax, Kite has a range of eco-friendly options to exemplify their pre-existing drive toward sustainable solutions. The website displays standard polythene mailing bags that consist of 100% recycled material and are recyclable after use. Where structural strength is of lesser importance, it can be economically and environmentally sound to embrace the tax’s encouragement of using recycled plastic. These mailing bags are extremely cost-effective and lightweight, making them a perfect option for small non-fragile products that do not require heavy duty protection. Moreover, the taxing of plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content will make eco-friendly products such as these an even better deal in comparison.
The introduction of a Plastic Packaging Tax points to the national appetite for sustainable business practices. This has long been reflected in customer preferences owing partly to the continued publicisation of mounting non-biodegradable waste in landfill. These emotive images make the pace of change unlikely to slow and hence, to maintain a positive brand image, it is imperative to express environmental awareness. The tax merely reinforces these cultural shifts so it is to the benefit of all involved to think sustainably about how to package products moving forwards. Kite are ahead of this curve and happy to empower your business to achieve the same level of sustainability, longevity and resultant growth.
Kite Packaging
t: 02476 420065
e: enquiries@kitepackaging.co.uk
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