Magazine publishers are joining forces to pre-empt any legislation that could be enforced for recovering paper waste if the EU decides to apply the principles outlined in the Packaging Waste Regulations to paper.


The industry will debate its concerns at a seminar on 10 July, hosted by the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA), entitled "The environment for magazines and the bottom line".


"We are not saying this will happen, as there are no directives that Im aware of as yet, but this is a pre-emptive strike," said PPA law and public affairs consultant Richard Henchley.


"It sounds a good thing for us to lobby and make positive changes to the existing measures," added BBC Worldwide production director Mal Skelton.


Skelton, who chairs the PPAs production and technology committee, said: "I have seen no evidence that the amount of waste going to landfill is being reduced, which is a worrying thing."


He also felt new measures would need to be introduced to improve domestic waste collection procedures and address the issue.


Henchley said all sections of the industry would come together to debate how they manage the environmental issue, and anticipate future legislation.


"The over-production issue is not a problem, but the issue is post-consumer waste and the principles could be applied to paper," said Henchley.


The Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), BBC Worldwide, UPM-Kymmene, Marketforce and the Sustainable Office Forum will give presentations at the seminar.


The EU has already applied the principles of post-consumer waste collection to other industries, such as car manufacturing.


Story by Andy Scott