The recent announcement that the John Lewis Partnership will commit all of its plastic packaging waste for recycling in the UK is evidence of the sort of far sighted initiative which is required by brand owners and retailers if the UK is not only to achieve its packaging recycling target but to create sustainable resource-efficient low carbon manufacturing.
It is extremely good news that BPF Recycling Group member Centriforce will recycle around 3000 tonnes per annum of packaging films from John Lewis and convert it into products such as walkways, hoardings and furniture which can in turn be used by the retailer in its stores.
For too long the UK and indeed the world has been too reliant on Asian markets for plastic waste. The long awaited PRN/PERN review will hopefully bring to an end a system which has incentivised exports at the expense of domestic recycling but now is the time for government to raise the bar and create interventions and instruments which could make its packaging recycling target credible.
Over the past decade packaging recycling targets have resulted in significant growth in collection and sorting infrastructure. The sad reality is that overall UK recycling of plastic packaging waste has little more than flatlined over this period at the expense of exports. Given that China has already announced its intention to recycle 75% of plastic packaging waste by 2017 we can assume that the infrastructure to deliver at least some of this ambition is being installed as we speak. Indeed it is already estimated that in excess of 50% of plastic recycled in China is from its domestic market and it is a frightening statistic that only around 4% originates from UK. The upshot of this is that if China becomes self sufficient in recycling its own plastic packaging waste it will not want to buy ours!
So surely now is the time to concentrate on growing volumes of recycled plastics used in UK manufacturing by incentivising the replacement of virgin materials with recycled plastics . To make this happen government instruments really need to focus on the pull incentives not just the push. Perhaps there could be an offset built into the PRN/PERN system which would enable companies to reduce their obligation by purchasing products made from recycled plastics derived from UK packaging waste?
However it is achieved , the UK needs more manufacturers , brand owners, and retailers to buy into recycling now in order to ensure we future proof plastic recycling in the long term.
Such an initiative will require a strategic approach which must not only include bottle recyclers capable of producing food grade reprocessed APET and HDPE but also a wide range of other plastics recyclers and critically those who can develop applications for recyclate from more difficult waste streams such as pots, tubs, trays and films .
Critically such a framework must provide traction for investment and innovation.
Register for free to comment