The Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association (MPMA) has warned that conflicting UK government policies could threaten the future of steel food cans and the wider UK metal packaging sector at a time when national resilience is increasingly important.

Jason Galley, Director and Chief Executive of the MPMA, said:

“The steel food can, or tin can, is integral to UK preparedness and national security but conflicting government policies on packaging reforms, circular economy, energy and decarbonisation are jeopardising the tin can’s future and the critical role it’s able to play in supporting society in times of crisis.

“In an uncertain world, resilience matters. Canned foods give households certainty through a shelf life of three to five years with no reliance on refrigeration. From emergency preparedness to everyday convenience and supporting food banks across the country, canned food is affordable, reliable, high quality with high nutritional value. Its metal packaging helps protect fresh produce within hours of source, whether that’s farm, field or sea; through transport and storage; and finally into kitchens across the UK.

“We know the government knows this. But the reality is that a number of government, including Defra, policies fail to recognise the metal packaging sector’s strategic importance. Taken together, their cumulative impact is damaging UK metal packaging by driving brands and consumers to plastics and other less-recyclable materials at a time when the Government is seeking to strengthen food security, domestic industry, secure critical material supply chains and drive economic growth.

“Ill-thought-through government policies threaten the future of UK metal packaging when national resilience has never been so critical.

“The focus on UK preparedness demonstrates the government’s value of the steel food can. We have written to the first secretary of state requesting an urgent meeting to help her understand the risks and to discuss how the sector can be future-proofed with positive government intervention, which without will lead to the inevitable off-shoring of food security.”

The MPMA highlighted areas of government policy that it believes work against metal packaging and the UK’s interests in food security, emergency preparedness, affordability and jobs:

• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) skews the market away from steel packaging to less circular plastic and fibre-based composite (FBC) packaging that can easily be shipped from abroad.
• British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) rewards the maker of steel and the recycler of steel but fails to reward the packaging manufacturer. Packaging is the part of the supply chain where its business activities help to grow demand for steel production and steel recycling.
• Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) does not apply to plastics and FBC cartons, threatening steel packaging substitution by these products that are easily imported, further contributing to offshoring of manufacturing and food security.
• CBAM fails to protect against the import of filled steel cans, threatening domestic steel making, packaging manufacturing and food production.