And, the figures show that 48 million was invested in the reprocessing sector through the PRN system in 2003, including 21 million for paper recyclers.
The figures, issued to compliance schemes at the end of last week by DEFRA, show that the UK achieved a recycling rate for obligated packaging waste of just over 64% – surpassing the 59% target set by the government.
The figures show that in 2003, 6,388 businesses were obligated under the packaging regulations to pay for their share of the UK's recycling and recovery targets.
- For more information on how the packaging waste regulations operate in the UK, see the letsrecycle.com legislation section.
Despite the low packaging waste recovery note (PRN) prices seen in 2003, the UK's overall recovery and recycling of obligated packaging waste increased by about 8% from 2002 to 2003.
Overall, 5,349,111 tonnes of packaging waste was accepted for recovery in the UK in 2003, up from 4,960,334 in 2002 (see letsrecycle.com story). Of this, 4,763,024 tonnes was accepted for recycling, up from 4,375,994 in 2002.
Recovery and recycling carried out in 2003 (tonnes):
| UK Reprocessing (1) | Exported for Reprocessing (2) | Reprocessed & no PRNs issued (3) | PRN/PERN carried forward to 2004 (4) | UK Tonnes accepted for recovery & recycling (5) * | |
| Paper | 11,973,661 | 441,726 | 267,254 | 93,179 | 2,420,951 total |
| Paper alt evidence | 5,564 | ||||
| Glass | 767,764 | 37,726 | 96,187 | 45,642 | 847,804 total |
| Glass alt evidence | 42,314 | ||||
| Aluminium | 25,141 | 6,449 | 2,143 | 1,437 | 31,590 |
| Steel | 129,219 | 175,301 | 11,068 | 9,518 | 304,520 |
| Plastic | 287,971 | 114,414 | 14,772 | 11,161 | 402,385 |
| Wood | 754,678 | 1,096 | 81,759 | 37,305 | 755,774 |
| Total Recycling | 3,986,312 | 776,712 | 273,183 | 198,242 | 4,763,024 |
| EfW | 3586,087 | 465,987 | 532,757 | 586,087 | |
| Total Recovery | 4,572,399 | 776,712 | 339,170 | 230,999 | 5,349,111 |
|
* Total of columns (1) and (2) 1 Paper total includes 659 tonnes composting and 7t plasterboard 2 Includes 428t composting 3 Made up of: EfW 14,216t; MSW 542,127t; RDF 25,393t; Clinical incineration 4,351t 4 Made up of: EfW 8,345t; MSW 54,107t; RDF 1,061t; Clinical 2,474t 5 Made up of: EfW 1,945t; MSW 26,724t; RDF 3,919t; clinical 169t |
The figures provided by DEFRA do not specifically show the effect Environment Agency enforcement activities had on the fourth quarter reprocessing figures for 2003. But, analysts believe this factor plus the reprocessors that went out of business in 2003 has hit the fourth quarter figures “significantly”.
Although there are usually seasonal variations between quarter figures, when the fourth quarter figures of 2003 are compared to an average of the other three quarters of 2003, they show a drop of about 17,000 tonnes in plastic and 20,000 in wood.
Obligation
The overall recovery total for 2003 was 5,349,111 tonnes, and since obligated businesses reported 8,290,165 tonnes of packaging waste in 2003, this means that the overall business recovery rate for 2003 was just over 64%.
Packaging reported by obligated businesses 2001-2003
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | |
| Paper | 3,134,037 | 3,141,036 | 3,248,781 |
| Glass | 1,697,678 | 1,764,488 | 1,870,878 |
| Aluminium | 120,234 | 123,377 | 129,903 |
| Steel | 634,381 | 597,523 | 606,636 |
| Plastic | 1,502,146 | 1,517,556 | 1,612,903 |
| Wood | 844,753 | 799,633 | 800,093 |
| Other | 20,584 | 18,724 | 20,971 |
| Total | 7,953,813 | 7,962,337 | 8,290,165 |
This rate surpassed the 59% target the government had set for the year by a wide margin. The figures suggest that about 450,000 tonnes of material was recovered or recycled above the 4,889,198 tonnes of recovery that would have been required to meet the 59% target.
Since this figure does not include the carryover of December PRNs into 2004, it would appear to confirm that huge numbers of PRNs went unsold last year – as much as 450,000 tonnes.
Continued on page 2
Subscribe for free