The comment came from Paul Dumpleton, UK recycling manager for SITA, at the recent Environmental Services Association conference in London. And, putting the costs of plastics bottle recycling at between 250-300, Mr Dumpleton said that the issue of whether to recycle plastics was often an “emotional issue” for the public and some local authorities.
The reason for this, he explained, is that plastics are highly visible and pressure from the public on local authority councillors was strong. But, when the costs of bottle recycling were researched it was realised that it was often not viable to get schemes underway.
In his presentation, Mr Dumpleton also looked at plastics in the domestic waste stream. He noted that plastic refuse sacks made up about 10%, bottles 17%, other dense plastic 19%, other film 37%, and packaging 17%.
Recycling routes did exist for some of these materials, he emphasised. However, he stressed that when used in products there was a need for more design for the environment and disassembly as well as more design for recycling.
Register for free to comment