Prn Market Review: Do Prices Reflect Costs?

This article examines the pricing structure for PRN's over 2019. The final compliance year of the decade has arguably been its most controversial. The packaging recovery note (PRN) system has become "Marmite" policy in recent years, with stakeholders increasingly polarised by the benefits and flaws of the market mechanism. But, as this article argues, love it or loath it, the 2019 PRN market has been impossible to ignore for anyone operating across the packaging and recycling value chains. Last year's spiraling compliance costs and unprecedented price volatility will be seen by some as another reason to reform the PRN system entirely, However, for others, achieving 2019 targets in adverse market conditions has shown that the system works.