Consultant Urges More Plastics Recycling in the UK

Increasing plastics recycling tonnages in the United Kingdom “will be a key focus for 2012,” predicts Keith Freegard, director of Axion Consulting, Bramhall, U.K.

With U.K. plastic bottle recycling rates nearing 50 percent for drink and dairy bottles, Freegard says that further investment in technology and equipment to extract a wider range of materials from mixed plastic collections offers “major potential for improvement” as recyclers “continue to extend pioneering work done on PET and HDPE bottles recycling.”

He continues, “Kerbside collection data points to a huge untapped source of rigid, non-bottle packaging items becoming available as local authorities offer collections of more household plastics, as well as an often-ignored high volume of post-consumer films.”

Greater emphasis on rigid post-consumer plastic packaging and films could also lead to more “coordinated approaches in overcoming challenges presented by these more difficult-to-recycle waste streams,” according to Axion.

“Today’s primary sorting material recovery facilities (MRFs) and bottle-sorting plastic recovery facilities (PRFs) were developed in response to PET and HDPE recyclate demand,” says Freegard. “Next-generation infrastructure must be capable of extracting value from other rigid plastics and films if we are to achieve higher overall plastic packaging recycling targets.”

New investments can complement continued growth in annual bottle recovery and be matched to what Freegard says is an “inevitable rise in other rigid and flexible plastics” generated by the existing plastic recycling infrastructure.

“People are realizing we need to tackle more difficult waste streams,” says Freegard. “One solution would be to build more integrated ‘resource parks’ where varied and mixed waste streams can be processed in complementary ways. For example, residual materials from sorting commingled waste streams can be used as an energy source to provide local heat and power for adjacent washing and reprocessing units.”

He continues, “2012 will see increasing importance placed on MRF optimization, including the use of sophisticated modelling, sampling and analysis services like those provided by Axion. Accurate and representative measurement of inputs and outputs is vital to highlight where plant control responses are needed to optimize operational efficiency, maximize profits and ultimately recover the valuable resources that would otherwise be discarded.”

Axion Consulting develops and adjusts processing and collection methods for a range of clients within the recycling and process industries. The company designs and builds plants for companies in the recycling sector, advising on plant design and equipment selection. More information on Axion Consulting can be found at www.axionconsulting.co.uk.