UK Plastics Industry Association Joins Books to "Release"

The seven plastics industry associations headed by the British Plastics Industry Federation (BPF) recently co-authored the British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and called on the government to promote the healthy development of the industry in the Budget submitted in late March. Create more conditions. These associations stated in the letter that, “Although the global market is currently lacking in confidence and weak downstream demand, most British plastics companies are still optimistic about the outlook for the industry. However, at present, some new policies that are being implemented or will be introduced by the government will not achieve the expected results, which may hinder the development of enterprises and require no careful reconsideration. '

The seven joint associations are the British Plastics Industry Federation, the British Coatings Federation, the British Rubber and Plastic Products Association, the Northern Ireland Polymer Association, the Packaging and Film Association, the Scottish Plastics and Rubber Association, and the British Die and Mould Industry Association. These represent industry associations with 31,000 employees in the British industry and welcome the government’s goal of reducing budget deficits and rebalancing the economy to 'encourage manufacturing growth', but questioned the recent series of new government policies.

The seven plastics industry associations stated that the 'Green New Deal' currently being implemented in the UK aims to save energy expenditures. Although it may stimulate economic growth and solve unemployment problems, the imposition of environmental taxes on companies may have the opposite effect. Although the 'house heat loss tax' can force homeowners to create more environmentally-friendly housing and increase the use of insulation materials, it is difficult to implement due to 'not enough resources, such as assessors may not be available in the short term'. Heavy, it is difficult to pull the insulation material market growth. It is understood that the core content of the UK 'Green New Deal' plan is to reduce carbon emissions to 20% of 1990 levels by 2050.

The letter also mentioned the new 2013-2017 plastic packaging recycling target proposed by the UK Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) not long ago. DEFRA hopes that by 2017, 57% of plastic packaging can be recycled. The letter called the goal 'unrealistic and difficult to achieve' and will add 70 million pounds in expenditures to related companies in the next five years to 'drive away' plastic packaging and filling companies from neighboring countries. Rog Benham, director of BPF's recycling department, said: 'I very much agree with the government's policy of improving resource utilization, increasing sustainable jobs, and revitalizing the green economy. However, this may reduce the quality of recycled plastics unless the minimum quality standards are established while increasing the recovery target. '

In addition, the letter also strongly urged George Osborne to seriously consider proposals for increasing fuel tax revenues. Earlier it was reported that the government would impose a surcharge of £3 per liter of fuel. The seven associations stated that under the background of rising crude oil prices, British diesel prices have already ranked second in EU member states. It is no doubt that adding additional surcharges to companies that are already unsustainable costs will make things worse.

The joint letter wrote that the debt crisis in the euro zone has hit market confidence and affected product exports, which means that companies will be cautious about investing and expanding their workforce. However, in this unfavorable situation, member companies are still optimistic about the business prospects. It is expected that in 2012, operating income in the UK will increase and profits will increase. We do not want the plastics industry, which could continue to rise, to stagnate or even lose money due to policies and other factors.

BPF President Peter Davis said: 'The UK plastics industry remains optimistic about 2012, although confidence has weakened from six months ago. '

The 2012 business survey conducted by the BPF on 90 member companies in the plastics industry in 2012 showed that 56% of companies expect that their turnover in the UK will increase, compared with 66% in the survey last June. Among them, 12% of the estimated turnover will increase by 2% to 5%, 22% of the estimated turnover will increase by 6% to 10%, 13% are expected to increase by 11% to 20%, and 9% are expected to increase by 21%. the above. 39% of companies believe that profits in 2012 will increase, compared to 29% six months ago. 56% of companies stated that they will increase their investment this year, compared to 64% six months ago. In addition, up to 84% of companies believe that the lack of energy supply and high costs are the most important factors hindering business growth. Other factors that affect profits include strict environmental regulations and high environmental protection tax expenditures.