British Plastics Federation: Industry workforce and production hit by NHS COVID-19 app “pings”

29 Jul 2021 --- The British Plastics Federation (BPF) has published a members survey revealing 60 percent of plastics companies have staff absent due to being “pinged” by the NHS COVID-19 app, with an average of 7 percent of staff being requested to isolate.

The app uses Bluetooth to determine whether a person’s smartphone has been within 2 meters of somebody who has recently tested positive for COVID-19 for at least 15 minutes. “Pinged” people are advised but not legally obliged to self-isolate for up to 10 days.

The flash survey also found that 71 percent of companies had people off work because they are self-isolating (possibly due to being “pinged”), cannot get to work due to a lack of travel services, are caring for others who are isolating, or have contracted the virus. Taking all these factors into account, companies reported an average of 8 percent of staff off work.

Completed by 106 companies in just under 24 hours, 53 percent stated they have had to reduce production, with 60 percent of those citing staff shortages due to COVID-19.

Moreover, since the start of the pandemic, one in five companies has completely stopped production at some point.

Meanwhile, 50 percent of companies reported they were considering more automation in their plants due to the pandemic, and 60 percent were permanently changing their work from home policy.

“Plastic and plastic products are absolutely essential for many industries and services to function. The pandemic is presenting huge challenges to almost every business and the safety of workers should be of paramount importance,” says BPF director general Philip Law.

“But if the situation gets worse, it risks having a knock-on effect, disrupting numerous supply chains, so it is imperative the UK plastics industry receives clear messaging from the government on whether plastics manufacturers are deemed a ‘critical’ sector.”According to BPF, an average of 7% of plastic industry staff are being required to isolate by the NHS COVID-19 app.

Camvac’s supply chain challenges
UK-based plastic film specialist Camvac recently told PackagingInsights it had experienced raw material supply issues as the pandemic grew and disrupted more countries.

“Earlier this year, we were receiving numerous force majeure declarations from our suppliers. Like most packaging manufacturers, raw material pricing has increased dramatically over 2021,” shared Greg Kingham, Camvac CEO.

“Still there does seem to be some calming coming into place with pricing beginning to stabilize for most raw material products. Availability, on the other hand, is still limited.”

Camvac’s purchasing team continues to work closely with its suppliers to secure material and ensure its customer orders can be fulfilled.

“As the supply issue is industry-wide, our customers are aware of potential extended lead times and placing orders before we would usually expect them. This helps massively with securing stock and planning production and order fulfillment,” added Kingham.

Flexible Packaging Europe’s raw material warning
In June, Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE) warned continuing raw material availability issues are creating a potential risk to the stable supply of food, pharmaceutical and medical products.

Guido Aufdemkamp, FPE’s executive director, told PackagingInsights the general COVID-19 economic recovery had increased the demand for all raw materials across all sectors worldwide. However, polymer supply issues are creating challenges for the value chain.BPF found one in five companies has completely stopped production at some point during the pandemic.

“Various force majeure declarations and maintenance announcements have squeezed the situation for polymers,” explained Aufdemkamp.

“In aluminum, the global recovery of production in automotive and other transportation, construction and rigid packaging combined with reduced primary capacity has created a general material deficit.”

“The shortages in global but also European transport logistics adds to the issues.”

IVK Europe (the European plastic sheets and films association) has also warned of ongoing raw material shortages and rising prices in the plastics industry.

Meanwhile, Natural Mineral Waters Europe, the European Fruit Juice Association and UNESDA Soft Drinks Europe are urging the European Commission to provide the non-alcoholic beverage industry with “priority access” to recycled PET in the upcoming revision of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive amid concerns of material downcycling.

By Joshua Poole