We have launched this years edition of the Recoup Survey, funded by Nampak Plastics and PPS Recovery Systems. It shows an encouraging increase in the UK bottle recycling rate with 46% of plastic bottles now being collected for recycling.
The finalised data indicates a 7% increase in comparison to last year’s report, with over 303,000 tonnes of plastic packaging now collected. From this total, 263,000 tonnes was reported as plastic bottles; a further 40,000 tonnes was attributed to non-bottle plastic packaging collections. The data suggests that just over 19,000 tonnes of bottle were collected for recycling in Yorkshire and Humberside.
Kerbside schemes accounted for 215,500 tonnes of plastic bottles collected, which represents an increase of 46,600 tonnes from the previous year – growth in collection rates of approximately 28%. The total number of local authorities now offering a plastic bottle collection through kerbside is 360, providing the service for over 23 million households. The current bring collection tonnage for plastic bottles is now 47,000 tonnes.
The majority of local authorities that responded when asked how the plastic bottle collection scheme was working, indicated that their schemes were running smoothly (82%). This response suggests that the infrastructure and support required to launch and sustainably operate a plastics collection scheme is now available to most UK local authorities.
According to the data, over 54% of plastic bottles are still not recycled. Aside from the issues around reducing landfill reliance and needing to meet increasing recycling targets, there is genuine concern that without a focussed effort, the plastic bottle recycling infrastructure in the UK cannot be sustainably supported by UK bottle collections.
The survey responses suggest that kerbside schemes could potentially recover 271,000 tonnes of plastic bottles in 2012. If a yearly 10% increase in household kerbside coverage and also performance was applied, the estimated collection could reach over 350,000 tonnes. This suggests that a focus on increasing plastic bottle kerbside infrastructure and indicative performance per household will be essential to boosting existing recycling rates and achieve the step change desired.
Alongside this, Recoup believes that the introduction of other plastics packaging recycling can be considered. But only when commercially viable and sustainable end markets are defined, and the collection and sorting infrastructure is capable of effectively handling the mixed plastics without detriment to the operation of existing recycling systems, or affecting the resulting output quality of other recyclables, including plastic bottles.
The full report is available FREE from the Recoup website on: www.recoup.org
Have a good Christmas and new year
Stuart.