Member Control Panel
CCA FAQS
FAQ's/Ask a Question
See below to view a list of frequently asked questions regarding the Climate Change Agreement:
How does this effect my obligations under the Carbon Reduction Commitment?
By participating in BPFEnergy's Climate Change Agreement scheme your company will avoid costly obligations under the UK government's Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which is due to be implemented from April 2010.
The CRC will apply to companies with a total half hourly electricity consumption of at least 6000 megawatt- hours and will be based on a cap and trade scheme for carbon emissions associated with your firm's electricity usage. BPF members estimate that compliance with the scheme will cost significant sums of money.
What Are My Obligations in Terms of Reducing Energy Usage?
The agreement will commit the sector to a reduction in relative energy consumption of 12% from the base (calendar) year 2006 to calendar year 2010. The target applies to all energy used by the Partner Site, although the Levy reduction will only apply to Electricity and LPG.
What Are The Ramifications if the Obligations are not met?
If a participant is not able to achieve the reduction targets, they are obliged to purchase CO2 allowances to make up any shortfall. Failure to do so means that a participant will be decertified and no longer eligible to claim levy discount. However, there is no clawback of any discount already received.
What If My Company Has Grown Since The Base Year (2006) and My Energy Use Has Therefore Increased?
Energy performance is measured as Specific Energy Consumption (SEC) which is in kWh versus kg of product output. So any increase in energy use is compensated for by an increase in product output.
What are the obligations after 2010?
Unknown at present as this is subject to further consultation with DECC.
Is my company / site eligible to participate in a CCLA?
Sites must be based in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. They must also meet one of the eligibility criteria set out by DECC.
What is the definition of ‘’Plastics Processing’’?
“Plastics processing” refers to the production of plastics material, or semi-finished or finished products by the application of heat and pressure to, or by a chemical reaction involving, plastics powder, granules, shredded waste or liquids.
The different techniques embraced by this overall process descriptions are:
• Injection Moulding
• Reaction Injection Moulding
• Compression Moulding ( including hot & cold press moulding)
• Transfer moulding
• Direct Screw Transfer Moulding (DST)
• Rotational Moulding ( Including slush moulding )
• Flexible Foam Moulding ( including dual component processing )
• Blow Moulding by various processes
• Casting
• Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Moulding of Shapes and Blocks
• Expandable materials processing (Such as Expandable Polystyrene)
• Mixing and compounding
• Calendering
• Powder Coating including Dip Moulding
• Sintering
• Thermoforming ( Including Vacuum Forming )
• Pultrusion
• Filament Winding
• Spread Coating
• Resin Transfer Moulding
What forms and documentation do I have to complete for registration?
a) PP4. EI – Application Form
b) Process Description & Process Flow diagrams
c) Calculations to demonstrate percentage Eligibility
d) Signed PP3.02 (Underlying Agreement)
e) Joining Fee
Do you have to be a British Plastics Federation (BPF) member to participate?
No, but being a member means companies receive a 50% discount of BPF CCA Partner Fees.
Membership of the BPF also brings a wealth of other benefits, for more information on BPF Membership please CLICK HERE or contact Stephen Hunt on 0207 457 5044 or by email on shunt@bpf.co.uk
What are the benefits of being in a CCA?
With energy prices continuing to rise in the UK, chances are that energy bills are increasingly beginning to erode away your profit margins. Look at a recent electricity or LPG bill and you will see a line on in saying Climate Change Levy Charge. Companies participating in a CCA have this charge reduced by up to 80%. By meeting energy usage reduction targets and meeting responsibilities set out in a CCA, sites are able to claim this reduction from the date they join the scheme up until the end of March 2013.
Sites are eligible to receive a reduction of up to 80% of the tax levy they currently pay on their energy use. The current levy is as follows and set to broadly increase in line with inflation.
Electricity £0.00470 per kilowatt hour
Liquid Petroleum Gas £ 0.01050 per kilogram
How long does an application take to process?
Typically 12 weeks from when Inenco submits to DECC all forms must be fully completed and the relevant fees paid.
What are my responsibilities once in the scheme?
There are a number of responsibilities such as monitoring and targeting of utility and production data, maintenance of an evidence pack etc.
What are the costs of participation?
The cost of participation to the scheme is different for BPF Members and Non-Members and consists of a one off joining fee and addition annual fee all initially based on your current Climate Change Levy payment, pre-discount. Please see the guidance on charges to the British Plastics Federation Climate Change Agreement within the application pack.
BPF/Inenco does have the right to terminate a site’s CCA if subscriptions are not paid in a timely fashion.
What is the monitoring period and the milestone years?
The monitoring period is from January to December. The milestone years are 2010 and 2012.
What is the Certification Process?
On receipt of your application, Inenco will check over all submitted paperwork to ensure it is complete. Once full annual subscription payment has been received, the application is submitted to DECC.
Certification typically takes 6 weeks at DECC; however they may ask for further supporting evidence regarding eligibility or reduction targets which may delay this process. Any re-submitted PP3.02 and PP4 forms must have original signatures on from a site contact and be dated. All correspondence between DECC and your site must go via BPF Energy.
Once the CCA application has been agreed, DECC will certify the agreement by counter-signing one of the submitted PP3.02s and returning it to Inenco. Inenco takes a copy of all CCA paperwork and keeps a file on each site, so that clear records and paperwork trails are kept, and can be provided to the site or DECC if required. Certification details will uploaded onto the HMRC website to confirm this.
The counter-signed PP3.02 is then sent to the site*, along with any other information that may be needed. It is the responsibility of the site to keep a full set of documentation regarding their CCA in what is known as an evidence pack. This includes all application paperwork.
*NB: In cases where a site is employing a consultant, all official DECC paperwork will be sent to the site in the first instance as the CCA agreement is signed between the site and DECC.
Once the CCA application has been agreed by DECC it will be listed as certified on their website.
What about Evidence Packs and Audits?
An increasing number of audits are being carried out on BPF CCA participants. Such audits are designed to check compliance within the scheme and not to punish mis-compliance or genuine mistakes. Following an audit AEA will construct a report with action points and dates for these to be carried out. Although audits should be straightforward it is important to prepare for them, so please review the notes below carefully and feel free to contact BPF offices for further guidance.
An individual on site should be given responsibility for the CCA and a deputy appointed. An Evidence Pack should be constructed with information as detailed below and the names of those responsible for the CCA should appear at the front of it. The Evidence Pack should be known to, and accessible to colleagues as appropriate. This is vital in cases of absence from work during a DECC/AEA audit, (the audit date will not be rearranged due to the absence of the main individual responsible for CCA), or if the responsibility of the CCA gets passed from one colleague to another.
The likely aim of an audit will be to:
• assess the general accuracy and traceability of Base Year and all submitted milestone data.
• check that specific details, such as correct conversion factors have been used.
• check procedures for collating and reporting energy and production monitoring figures to the BPF.
• examine correctness of the eligibility of processes and directly associated activities, and compare these to processes listed on the PP4.
The Evidence Pack should contain all paperwork relating to the CCA.
Below are specific details which have been split into essential, recommended and optional.
What information do I require?
• All paperwork submitted for application to join the scheme.
Including BPF Mandate, PP4, Manufacturing Process Description, Process Flow Map, Annotated Site Map, 90/10 non-eligible energy usage form, Base Year Form, PP3.02.
• A copy of the IPPC permit if applicable.
• All paperwork relating to amendments to your agreement.
Including where applicable updated PP4, Base Year Form, PP3.02. And / or where applicable PP4b, V1.02, T1.02.
• Completed End of Year Quarterly Monitoring forms that have been submitted to the BPF.
For every year since you joined the scheme. Please include forms for non-milestone years.
• Copies of energy bills to backup the Base Year and Quarterly Monitoring Form submissions.
Please retain copies of all bills for all meters since you joined the scheme.
• Written procedures of how CCA data is monitored, gathered, recorded, processed and handled
Best Practice is to use standardised pro-forms sheets for recording your own monthly meter readings, and a description of how to pass the information to your Sector Association. Names of those responsible for a) gathering the energy and production data, and b) submitting such data to the BPF should be noted.
• Written procedures for error checking of CCA data.
Best Practice is to produce a detailed error-checking instruction, whereby errors in production or energy usage can be routinely checked and identified. E.g. this should show how you use utility invoices to check your own meter readings.
• Where applicable ensure sub-meters of ineligible energy is read on a regular basis to ensure compliance with your 90/10 submitted information.
This is particularly important where part of your billed energy is used by an external company and should not receive a reduction in CCL.
Recommended
If you have this information to hand please include it:
• If in place copy of a Future Energy Savings Implementation Plan and/or record of Energy Efficiency Measures Already Implemented, with costs and dates of implementation and/or minutes of an energy committee.
If you have these in place, having evidence of them in your Evidence Pack will reinforce your commitments to energy efficiency.
• If any have been undertaken, copies of Carbon Trust or other Energy Reports.
This helps to backup your Energy Savings Implementation Plan.
Optional
The points below have been included in some audit reports as action points, but not in most:
• Information on the energy distribution system.
Including the location of the utility companies' energy meters and your own installed sub-meters should be shown on a site map. This could include a description of the energy distribution network.
• Where applicable the manufacturer's data sheet showing the accuracy of the facility's weighting scales. Copy of the latest calibration sheet.
• A statement from each of your utility suppliers as to the accuracy status and calibration status of their meters supplying your facility.
DECC have suggested that by 2010, they will audit every site in the CCA. During an audit, DECC will wish to see an evidence pack, as well as having a look around the site and investigating monitoring procedures and record keeping. Previously DECC have provided 4 to 6 weeks warning of an audit, although they are not obliged to do this.
Alternatively If you have a question regarding the Climate Change Agreement that has not been answered in the FAQ's, or a query surrounding BPF Membership, please complete the form below and someone will contact you...
