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The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment

Advancing circular economy packaging systems for a net-zero world

About INCPEN

INCPEN is a membership organisation that brings together global packaging manufacturers, brands, retailers and recyclers. We work on behalf of our members, but our impact goes far beyond them, delivering environmental sustainability benefits that help everyone.

Collaboration sits at the heart of everything we do — it’s what we’re known for. Strong partnerships and effective teamwork across the packaging value chain are central to how we operate. This includes working closely with the UK Government and Devolved Administrations, as well as brands, retailers, manufacturers, recyclers, local authorities, waste management companies and representative organisations.
To all the colleagues who work with us to tackle the challenges — and seize the opportunities — of building circular economy packaging systems: thank you.
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Employees in our member Organisations
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Billion GBP value of packaging to UK economy
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Countries our members operate in
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UK products our members design, make and supply

Our Members

INCPEN’s membership spans global, multi-brand companies through to UK family businesses. One of the great strengths of our community (alongside being a talented and genuinely lovely group of people to work with) is that our members represent the entire packaging value chain.

Our members design, manufacture, distribute, retail, collect, recycle, reuse, refill and reprocess packaging of every shape, size and material. This includes the packaging the public see every day at home, at work and on the go, as well as the “behind-the-scenes” packaging used to transport and store goods across the UK and around the world.

Packaging is essential to every manufacturing sector — from food and drink, health and beauty, and home care, to electrical appliances, furniture, DIY, automotive, hobbies and gaming.

The packaging our members work with protects the products we rely on in daily life, keeping them safe, reducing damage and minimising waste throughout their journey to the consumer.
Our membership has grown rapidly in recent years and now includes many household names and highly successful brands.
Ocado
ProAmpac
SONOCO
Aldi
Associated British Foods
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
Costa Coffee

View all INCPEN members

UK Packaging Reforms

Transforming the UK’s packaging system into a truly circular economy is a national priority — and INCPEN is at the forefront of making it happen. Achieving circularity requires fundamental changes in how packaging is designed, manufactured, sold, collected and reprocessed. Our members, along with partners across the value chain, are pivotal to this shift.

As circular economy expectations grow, so too do the costs and responsibilities for businesses. Companies face increasing financial, operational and reporting demands as they work to ensure packaging is as resource‑efficient, recyclable and reusable as possible.

INCPEN’s membership spans organisations operating not only in the UK but across Europe, serving hundreds of millions of citizens.

With similar policy developments advancing across the EU, our work helps members navigate and influence circularity agendas on both sides of the Channel.

Driving the transition to a circular packaging economy has been central to INCPEN’s mission for many years. We work closely with governments, regulators, industry partners and NGOs to provide evidence, shape policy thinking, and champion practical, collaborative solutions.

This influential role — ensuring members’ voices are heard and that policy is both ambitious and workable — is consistently highlighted as one of the most valued benefits of INCPEN membership.

Extended Producer Responsibility
for Packaging

Deposit
Return Scheme

Simpler Recycling

Plastics Packaging Tax

News

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Our Team

While INCPEN’s membership spans UK and global companies employing thousands of people, our own team is small. Our three staff cover a wide and demanding brief on behalf of our members, including nationally important roles within major government programmes.

Paul Vanston - Chief Executive Officer

Paul has been Chief Executive Officer of INCPEN since 2017. Alongside leading the organisation’s management and strategic direction, he represents INCPEN members in shaping the governments’ ambitious packaging reforms.

Before joining INCPEN, Paul spent over twenty years working in central and local government. His involvement in packaging policy began in 2000, when he took on his first of several roles in recycling and waste services within local authorities. From 2008 to 2016, he led the Kent Resource Partnership, working on behalf of 13 councils.

Paul is a Ministerially appointed member of the four governments’ Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme Administrator Steering Group. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce and a member of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management.

Alison Skuse - Memberships & Finance Officer

Ali has been with INCPEN since 2014 and is central to keeping the organisation running smoothly. She manages memberships, financial affairs, monthly member newsletters, and supports INCPEN Board meetings and events.

Ali has a background in IT and project management. Before joining INCPEN, she spent ten years in telecoms in a variety of global roles across Supply Chain Management, CSR, and Internal Communications.

Paldeep Bhatti - Director of Research & Policy

Paldeep has been part of the INCPEN team since 2021, where he plays a central role in shaping and delivering the organisation’s research agenda. He is responsible for tracking and interpreting the fast‑moving landscape of packaging‑related policy across the UK and EU, ensuring INCPEN and its members stay ahead of emerging regulatory and strategic developments. Widely known for his patience and collaborative approach, Paldeep leads and coordinates INCPEN’s responses to government and industry consultations, bringing clarity, evidence and balance to complex policy discussions.

Before joining INCPEN, Paldeep spent more than a decade in local government waste management within the Kent Resource Partnership. During his time there, he progressed to head the partnership of 13 councils, gaining extensive hands‑on experience in recycling systems, operational delivery, and cross‑authority collaboration. This blend of policy insight, practical waste management expertise and partnership leadership underpins the valuable perspective he brings to INCPEN’s work on advancing a more circular and efficient packaging system.

Our Values

Our team developed a set of values to underpin how we work with each other, colleagues outside INCPEN and how we deliver our work.

  • Living integrity, accountability, objectivity, openness, honesty, leadership and selflessness
  • Striving to be the best version of ourselves as team players, lateral thinkers, having a can-do approach and willing to make the effort
  • Professional, honourable, seeking to help, never set out to embarrass
  • Having a consistent and fair approach towards all, a passion for diversity, equality, inclusivity, collaboration and the power of acting together
  • Having neutrality across packaging materials whilst promoting the roles & functions of packaging overall
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