Councils urged to support plastics recycling drive

Local authorities across the UK are being urged to get involved with a national plastics recycling initiative due to be officially launched next month.

The Pledge 4 Plastics campaign is being spearheaded by plastics recycling body Recoup and aims to increase the amount of plastic packaging collected through local authority kerbside recycling systems.

Formulated in response to challenging packaging recycling targets set by the government for 2013-17, during which recycling levels for plastics need to double, the industry-led initiative is designed to increase awareness of the need to recycle more plastic packaging and increase consumer understanding of what plastics can be recycled through existing local authority kerbside collection services.

Plans for the initiative were first announced at Recoups AGM in September 2013 under the initial name of Plastic Matters (see letsrecycle.com story) and the project later had the working title of Plastics Please (see letsrecycle.com story). However, organisers have now settled on the name Pledge 4 Plastics as a major component of the campaign will be encouraging householders to pledge to recycle just one more bottle per week, as the body claims that if achieved, this will ensure the 2017 targets are met.

The initiative will focus primarily on plastic bottles because nearly 100% of councils collect bottles at the kerbside, whilst only 60% collect pots, tubs and trays. However, other types of plastics are intended to be looked at at a later stage.

Toolkit

A summary explaining the background, aims, approach and key dates of the campaign was sent to councils in late July. And, a comprehensive toolkit to help local authorities run a plastics recycling campaign of their own, including posters, facts and figures, leaflets and key messages, is due to be sent out next week. Funding for such campaigns is also set to be made available by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

An official launch for the project is scheduled for the week commencing September 8, at which point a pledge website will go live and the scheme will be heavily promoted on the radio and through social media.

The project has received 20,000 in support from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and has been developed with partners who have all contributed at least 5,000 including Coca Cola Enteprises, Marks & Spencer, Unilever, Nestle Waters, RPC, Veolia, Closed Loop Recycling, Valpak, PlasticsEurope, Kent Resource Partnership, Surrey county council and WRAP.

Value

Adrian Hawkes, policy director at Valpak, said: Valpak is very pleased to be one of the sponsors of this project because we think it is a great example of how businesses can work together to produce a really imaginative and effective communications campaign which is also good value for money.

We felt this campaign was important to support and in the interests of our members because it is a great example of the kind of activity we need to see more of in order to help meet the challenging future recycling targets for plastic packaging. We hope it will be of use to local authorities and others to adapt for their own circumstances in future.

Steve Morgan, technical manager at Recoup, explained that if councils got on board then a lot more plastics could be captured.

He told letsrecycle.com: We have seen recycling levels for plastics plateau and that is something that needs to change so we will fall short of our targets and PRN prices and costs to businesses will rise.

We would urge as many local authorities as possible to get involved. One more bottle per household per week would make a big difference. Local authorities can all help by promoting the pledge and call to action via their communication channels such as social media, website and community newsletters.