Packaging industry demands ‘essential work’ status from the UK Government

Amid the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, many countries have advised people to stay home unless their work is essential. Should those in the packaging industry be classed as essential? In the UK, the government has released guidelines to only go outside for food, health reasons, and work that cannot be done from home. Jessica Paige, packaging writer at GlobalData, says, “Many of those working in the packaging industry have been arguing for packaging-related employees also to be defined as key workers. “Last week, the British Plastic Federation (BPF) urged the UK Government to classify plastic sector workers as essential, as the need for plastic packaging has become a matter of health and safety during this pandemic. UK-based packaging solutions provider Parkside global sales director Paula Birch told GlobalData that packaging is essential in today’s environment and that, therefore, those working in the packaging industry are essential too. Birch said, “Without packaging, the entire food industry will collapse. How do you supply soup or fresh bread without some sort of container? Packaging is there to protect, present,…

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