OPINION: Last week saw several national media outlets incorrectly report that the UK Government was considering discouraging households from recycling food and drink cartons as part of wider efforts to reduce “wishcycling” – a concept first introduced by the waste management sector to describe when consumers place unrecyclable or difficult to recycle materials into their recycling bin for collection.
Beneath headlines such as “Stop recycling juice cartons, toothpaste tubes and takeaway boxes to reduce waste, Government says” no evidence or quoted sources were provided to substantiate the claim that the UK Government would seek to discourage consumers from collecting the maximum volume of recyclable materials across the UK.
This reporting contrasted with the more balanced and sceptical perspective presented in the industry press – including Letsrecycle – noting that a “wishcycling” campaign would be inconsistent with the Government’s implementation of an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme and upcoming consistent kerbside collection reforms.
Thankfully, the UK Government was quick to issue a rebuttal to this reporting, strongly denying claims that it would ask households to place fewer items into kerbside bins. The government also added that it remains committed to making recycling easier and more consistent across the country and increasing awareness among households regarding what can – and cannot – be recycled.
Confidence
While the noise created around this purported campaign has proved to not be true, it risks a very real chilling effect upon consumer understanding and confidence in the UK recycling system. Polling repeatedly indicates that consumers are confused by the inconsistent and fragmented recycling systems across the four UK home nations and hundreds of local authorities. Inaccurate and unsubstantiated reporting in national publications can only have had a further negative affect.
Food and drink cartons remain fully recyclable and collected in two-thirds of all UK local authorities
As the trade association for the UK’s leading food and drink carton manufacturers, ACE UK is deeply concerned by the potential damage to consumer confidence and understanding of the UK’s recycling system. Put simply, consumer trust in the system may be dented, resulting in more recyclable materials ending up in landfill unnecessarily.
Food and drink cartons remain fully recyclable and collected in two-thirds of all UK local authorities. On behalf of the UK’s food and drink carton producers Tetra Pak, Elopak, and SIG Combibloc, ACE UK has also created an extensive bring bank network to increase collection coverage and the UK’s first dedicated food and drink carton reprocessing facility near Halifax in 2013. We are committed to achieving a 90% collection rate and 70% recycling rate for all cartons used across the UK by 2030.
In light of these ambitions, we welcome the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs robust response to dispel “wishcycling” claims. However, part of the reason why this inaccurate reporting was able to spread so quickly is due to the lack of information on the Government’s consistent kerbside collection reforms due to the delayed publication of Defra’s response to its second 2021 Consistency in Household and Business recycling consultation. This delay enables rumour, speculation and harmful proposals like “wishcycling” to fill the policy vacuum.
Cartons
Defra’s response is expected to confirm that food and drink cartons will be included on the core list of materials for collection by every local authority in England, closely aligned with the already confirmed fibre-based composites collection target for local authorities, while providing clarity, confidence and certainty for consumers.
As a result, ACE UK strongly welcomes indications that Defra will be breaking its silence on collection and recycling reforms shortly.
In the meantime, to reverse the damage that has been caused, we call on the industry and government to urgently work together to restore confidence in the recycling system. A positive first step could include local government, waste management industry and producers committing to develop a shared public education campaign to help consumers understand exactly what materials can be placed in their recycling bin, removing the risk of “wishcycling” forever.
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