Rigid plastics key to meeting packaging targets

Plastics packaging recycling targets can only be met if more councils collect mixed rigid plastics at the kerbside, according to plastics recycling experts.

In a report published alongside the Advisory Committee on Packagings (ACP) annual report on Friday (August 10), the ACPs Plastics Task Force said that it was theoretically possible for the UK to meet Defras target to recycle 57% of plastic packaging by 2017.

But, according to the Task Force, the target will only be achievable if all councils renewing their waste and recycling contracts until 2017 opt to include bottles and mixed rigid plastics in collections. And, the group claims that the collection rate for plastics will also need to increase, rising 42% for rigid mixed plastics and 8% for plastic bottles.

The group notes that currently only 35% of local authorities collect mixed rigid plastics, and estimates that an additional 185,000 tonnes of rigid plastic packaging will be needed. It also claims that around 16kg of rigid mixed plastics will need to be collected per household per year for this to be achievable, compared to 9.1kg on average currently.

Capacity

In its report, the group says it is confident there is more than sufficient capacity at planned or existing materials recycling facilities (MRFs) to sort the estimated 525,000 tonnes per year of additional material that would be needed to meet the packaging recycling target.

However it noted that increasing the range and quantity of plastic collected is likely to increase the technical challenge in sorting and separating the material, and said that it should be left to industry to determine quality. But, according to the Task Force, the MRF code of practice will improve confidence in the market around the quality of material received from MRFs.

The report also states that for the targets to be met the number of councils collecting plastic bottles will need to increase, despite more than 90% of councils currently collecting the material, and participation rates for bottle recycling per household per year will need to increase from 14kg currently to 19kg by 2017.

Collection

And, in order to do so, the group claims that greater public awareness around plastics recycling will be needed, with commingled collections vital to making recycling easy and understandable to consumers.

The report said: The way towards the targeted collection in 2017 of 185,000 tonnes involves both attracting new local authorities and moving the participation rate up through easier collection for citizens, adding: Commingled collection undisputedly leads to higher collection and it is partly because the consumer can leave the sorting to experts/technology. Such a dramatic increase in participation cannot happen without a massive information campaign.

The ACPs Plastics Task Force is made up of figures from across the plastics recycling sector including Claire Shrewsbury, packaging programme manager at the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), Jan-Erik Johansson of Plastics 2020 Challenge, Roy Hathaway of the waste sector trade body Environmental Services Association (ESA) and Stuart Foster, chair of plastics recycling organisation Recoup.