Ball calls for intervention as Valpak doubles PRN prices

packagingnews.co.uk: "Ball Packaging Europe (BPE) has called for government help to alleviate the impact of increased packaging recovery note prices, after Valpak, the UK's largest packaging waste compliance scheme, raised its prices by two-and-a-half times 2008 levels.

BPE recycling manager Norman Lett accepted there had been a disturbance in the recycling market, but said a lot of packaging firms would 'struggle to fund an increase' in PRN prices.

'Valpak is saying they'll have difficulty producing PRNs this year, and has erred on the side of caution [by raising prices now]. They're using our cashflow to fund it and it's all happened rather quickly,' he said."