RECOUP says UK plastics recycling infrastructure insufficient to meet recycled-content targets

The U.K. could face significant challenges in its ability to recycle household plastic packaging because of insufficient reprocessing infrastructure, according to RECOUP. The organization says its research reveals that reprocessing infrastructure potentially needs to double in the country.

U.K.-based plastics recycling organization RECOUP has released an update of its “Household Plastic Packaging Sorting and Infrastructure Report.” The report highlights how the U.K.’s infrastructure to reprocess plastics needs to increase to handle the additional demands created by a 30 percent recycled-content target and to service ambitious recycled-content commitments by brands.

The U.K. is preparing to implement a new tax in April 2022 on the production and import of all plastic packaging that doesn’t include at least 30 percent recycled content. The Plastic Packaging Tax is in its second round of consultations, which means understanding the impact of the tax and how this recycled content target can be achieved are urgent, RECOUP says.

RECOUP reports that sorting capacities at material recovery facilities (MRFs) and plastic recovery facilities (PRFs), by volume, are not a barrier to meeting the 30 percent recycled-content target. The U.K. has an estimated annual permitted MRF capacity of between 1.6 and 1.9 million metric tons for sorting plastic packaging and an estimated actual throughput of up to 1 million metric tons, according to the organization.

However, RECOUP says its research finds significant shortfalls in reprocessing capacity, with an estimated current operational output of 230,000 metric tons. Commercial conditions are challenging, and profit margins are narrow in this sector, with very specific operational and technical challenges around reprocessing plastic film, nonbottle polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and food-grade packaging, the group notes.

Scenarios detailed in the report show the extent to which capacities may be unable to cope with specific changes and requirements, RECOUP says. When comparing the reprocessing capacity against 30 percent recycled content from plastic packaging types placed on the market, significant shortfalls are apparent. These scenarios suggest that the U.K.’s reprocessing capacity may need to increase by 100 percent to meet 30 percent recycled content in all household plastic packaging placed on the market, the organization says, and by more than 200 percent to meet that target for food-grade rigid household plastic packaging.

Steve Morgan, policy and infrastructure manager at RECOUP, says, “The research conducted by RECOUP in producing the infrastructure report highlights the need for the U.K. to shift towards more domestic recycling in the U.K. in order for the industry to be able to cope with the increasing demands for high-quality recycled plastic. Reforming and delivering a well-designed packaging producer responsibility system in the U.K. is essential to deliver the infrastructure to meet a recycled content target. This would provide the underpinning foundations to ensure the necessary investment and confidence are in place for a sustainable business model to build and maintain the required recycling infrastructure for plastic packaging.”

The 2020 RECOUP Household Plastic Packaging Sorting and Infrastructure Report is available to all RECOUP members through the organization’s website.