U.K. Environment Agency releases second quarter recycling rates for plastic packaging

Photo: Sustainable Initiatives Fund, http://sift.net.nz

The U.K.-based association Recoup, an organization serving the country's plastics recycling industry, has released provisional data from the U.K. Environment Agency’s National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) showing packaging recycling rates for the second quarter of 2015.

The data indicates that 213,755 metric tons of plastic packaging were recycled in the U.K. during the second quarter. Of that amount, 61 percent was exported from the U.K., while the remainder stayed within the country for recycling.

The amount recycled represents an increase of 7 percent from the first quarter of 2015, Recoup says. However during the first quarter, 41 percent of the recycled material remained in the U.K., the data indicates.

The data also indicates that the U.K. has reached 47 percent of its target to recycle 880,000 metric tons of plastic packaging in 2015. Through the first half of 2015, 413,000 metric tons of plastic packaging has been recycled, Recoup reports.