Almost half of plastic bottles collected for recycling

Headline findings fromtheUK Household Plastics Packaging Collection Survey 2011 – whichdraws on data from 2010 -show that 281,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were collected by local authorities last year. This represents48.5% of all the bottles which arise in the waste stream.

At the same time, the number of non-bottle plastics collected for recycling such as yoghurt pots and ready meal trays almost doubled. In 2010, 76,300 tonnes were collected for recycling up from 40,000 in 2009.

However, while Recoup said the findings were encouraging, it said they should alsoset off alarm bells – not least because the rate in growth of plastic bottle collections is slowing. In 2009, 263,000 tonnes (46%) of plastic bottles were collected by local authorities, while in 2008, 216,000 tonnes were collected. This is worrying as demand for recycled PET and HDPE is increasing as more bottle manufacturers seek to improve their green credentials.

The Recoup survey data suggests that bottle collection rates over the next five years will struggle to meet the burgeoning demand for material, while the non bottle collection rates will increase significantly, requiring urgent investment in sorting infrastructure, and further development of sustainable and auditable end markets for this fraction, the organisation said.

But, overall, Recoup said that the survey was testament to 10 years of progress during which bottle collection rates had jumped from 3% to 48.5%, the number of bring collection points had almost trebled and non bottle plastic recycling had evolved fromeffectively nothing.At present, 21.7 million UK households receive kerbside plastic bottle collections.

Chief executive

The findings came as Recoup announced that its deputy chief executive Stuart Foster is to become its new chief executive. Current chief executive John Simmons will be stepping down on December 13 as a result of his decision to take more time out of business prior to his retirement.

Commenting on the survey, Mr Foster said: it is really exciting to be able to follow plastic packaging collection scheme progress over the years. The report would not be possible without the responses received from individual local authorities, so thank you to all who participated.

The findings of the report, which is sponsored by Nampak Plastics and Wellman Recycling, were launched at the BPF recycling seminar in Stoke last week (October 18).

The full report is due for release in early November, where it will be available for free on the Recoup website. The previous years report, from which letsrecycle.com reported initial findings last year (see letsrecycle.com story) is available on the website now.