Poor and inconsistent quality recyclate is adding ‘real cost’ to the UK manufacturing base and is costing reprocessors over an estimated 51 million a year, according to a new report.
TheCosts of Contamination Report 2012 study was published yesterday (December 19) by the Resource Association, the trade body for the reprocessing and recycling industries.
The report surveyed the Associations nine reprocessor members, who represent around half (three million tonnes) of all the UK reprocessing capacity that exists for paper and card, plastics, aluminium and glass.
The reprocessors are: Newsprint mill Aylesford Newsprint; plastic bottle recyclers Closed Loop Recycling and ECO Plastics: packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki (Lurgan; aluminium recycler Novelis Recycling, and paper recyclers Palm Recycling; DS Smith Recycling; Smurfit Kappa Recycling and UPM.
The companies were asked to submit detailed data on the costs associated with input of recyclate to their manufacturing processes and relate this to operational contamination levels. This was then analysed by consultants from Resource Futures.
They found that average current operational contamination rate reported by reprocessors was 5.85%, costing an average of 15.67 a tonne to manage, which they said was equivalent to a conservative estimate of at least 51 million a year.
While the study does not cover all reprocessors and the 51 million only relates to Resource Association members, the report says It would be reasonable to conclude … that other reprocessors may face a similar burden and so the real costs of poor and inconsistent quality recyclate to UK manufacturing will be much higher.
MRFs
The Associations view is that notional cost savings in changes to municipal recycling collections and in particular the move to commingled recycling systems which send materials to materials recycling facilities (MRFs) have simply shifted costs significantly towards manufacturers in the drive for quantity over quality.
And, it warns that the impact of poor quality material is a real barrier to investment and that if contamination were to be eradicated, this could create 700 new jobs.
As a result, the report reiterates calls for:
- A fresh look at the whole municipal recycling supply chain, including action to better regulate the output of MRFs
- This must include a mandatory MRF Code of Practice that demonstrably improves the quality of UK MRF output through a robust system of monitoring, material sampling and unannounced inspections
- Further robust action by regulators to enforce TFS Regulations and ensure that all recyclate exported meets legal quality requirements doing this would undoubtedly lead to quality improvements in the recyclate also destined for UK reprocessors
- More research by Government and its agencies to understand better the relationship between collection systems, public behaviour and contamination of recyclate – with the purpose of improving communications and operational practice to deliver better quality.
Chairman of the Resource Association, Andy Doran of Novelis, said: This report clearly shows the extent to which poor and inconsistent quality of recyclate adds real cost for the UK manufacturing base. This represents a missed opportunity for the UK – it is a cost burden that hampers investment and costs jobs, all to the detriment of the UK green economy.
Resource Association chief executive Ray Georgeson added: The drive for quantity has come in part at the expense of quality, and what might be seen as the delivery of cost savings at the collection end of recycling appears simply to be shifting costs into the manufacturing end of recycling. We question how long must the UK reprocessing sector carry this burden.
The Resource Association has 24 members in total.
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