Increased transparency in PRN trading is soon to be offered by the Environment Exchange when it introduces electronic trading on its recently upgraded web-site: www.t2e.co.uk.
Functionality of the three-year-old site has been improved to provide members with a more personalised service.
With a password, users can assess aspects of individual PRN trades against the overall performance of the market, as well as check the status of a transaction. Companies are also able to calculate the total cost of their packaging waste compliance.
At the moment bids are placed through a trading line, but in the near future an e-trading facility will be launched that will enable members to place and manage bids on-line themselves.
It is hoped that this interactivity will help companies to better structure their PRN obligations using accurate market figures on price history and available tonnages.
In theory, this means that companies should not be caught short of achieving their targets, as happened with compliance scheme Wastepack earlier this year, to the expense of the overall UK Packaging Waste Recovery target for 2001.
There is no membership fee for Environment Exchange. The service is charged at 50p/tonne or a minimum £10 per trade.