Waste Watch publishes plastics report

The report, Plastics in the UK economy– a guide to polymer use and recycling, discusses the consumption, recycling and export of plastics in the UK.

The study found that of the 1.8 million tonnes of plastics consumed by UK households just 15,000 tonnes, less than one percent, was recycled. It also said that just half local authorities offer a plastic bottle collection. The study recommended: “Priority should be given to demonstrating how local authorities can include plastic bottle collection in recycling schemes at little or no extra cost and to disseminating this information.”

The report added that although separate collection of plastic bottles can cost local authorities as much as 200-250 per tonne, adding plastics to a multi-material collection can be done a lot more cheaply.

Doreen Fedrigo, research, policy and information manager at Waste Watch, said: “Plastic is a material that features significantly in our increasingly throw-away society, with an annual growth rate of 4% in the UK. However, very little of this is recycled.”

Ms Fedrigo added: “There is little incentive for companies, householders or local authorities to recycle plastic. Plastics in the UK economy highlights some of the ways that more plastic can be recycled immediately and in the longer-term.”

The report also looked at the other streams of waste plastics including building and construction, agriculture and commercial. It paid special attention to the waste from end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which have strict recycling targets laid down in European legislation. It added that for these items are often shredded, making the separate polymers difficult to separate.

The report said: “Commercially viable systems for the separation of 'large' plastic items such as bottles already exist. For other sectors, in particular WEEE and ELV, the greatest potential lies in developing commercial systems for high-speed, high-quality separation of different polymer flakes arising from shredding operations.”

To view the report visit Waste Watch's plastics website.