Recycling still worth a considerable amount to UK economy

Despite a dip in prices for recycled materials, the government-funded recycling development body today (March 16) announced that the value of recycled waste has passed £1 billion since 2003 and claimed that markets are stabilising.

The move follows the publication of a series of negative media reports about recycling in the national press and aims to highlight the value of the practice, and to acknowledge work achieved by householders and councils.

Laura Underwood, from WRAP's Recycle Now publicity campaign, said: “Despite a dip in prices for recycled materials, more than 95% of material put out for recycling is being recycled, helping make the best use of ever scarcer resources.

“The feedback we're getting from recycling businesses on the ground is that markets are open and recycling is still worth a considerable amount to the UK economy at today's prices,” she added.

Analysis

According to WRAP's analysis, the value of materials sent for recycling has reached £1.1 billion since 2003, with an average annual growth of 30%. The amount of rubbish being sent for recycling has almost doubled over the last five years, which has contributed to this marked increase in value.

Had the material not been recycled, WRAP said that the cost of sending it to the tip would have been approximately £1.8 billion. In the past year alone, our household recycling amounted to 8.7 million tonnes.

The statistics were calculated using council data of waste and recycling levels from 2003/04 to 2007/08 – which show that around 33.8 million tonnes of waste was sent for recycling in England since 2003 and that recycling rates jumped from 17% to 34%.

WRAP then estimated the material split and looked at the average price of materials for each year, gathered from its market surveys.

Oliver Heath, eco-designer and supporter of the Recycle Now campaign, said: “Two-thirds of us are now recycling as a way of life and it's good to know that doing our bit has made a real difference. But there's always more we can do, so I'd encourage families to think about extra measures we can all take to recycle, reduce or reuse in our daily lives”.

Ms Underwood added: “Recycling is a success story and it's having a major impact. We've saved 30 million tonnes of CO2 which is the same as taking a third of our cars off UK roads for a year. Research proves recycling is the best case scenario for both the environment, and our pockets, so there's every reason to keep a good thing going.”

Response

WRAP's latest announcement follows the programme revealing in January 2009 that it had developed a strategy to counter “adverse” media coverage.

Writing to recycling officers, the organisation said: “While we all recognise the immediate difficulties in the sector the current spate of stories could affect the long term recycling behaviour of consumers and therefore need to be answered. WRAP is, therefore, developing a comprehensive response which we hope will have your support and which includes:-

• National PR, targeting specific commentary media (FT, Guardian, Times & Independent) and opinion formers. We are working closely with Defra, the LGA and the Environment Agency and have their full support.

• Proactively briefing trade media with our messages.

• Key factsheet for Members of Parliament.

• Advertorial to be purchased at the earliest opportunity in newspapers where we are receiving negative coverage to date e.g. Daily Mail and Telegraph.

• Regional media coverage tailored to the local area.

• Content to be added to www.Recyclenow.com providing information and reassurance to consumers about the current situation.

• A ‘toolkit' for local authorities.