Image courtesy of RECOUP
According to the “2022 UK Plastic Packaging Sorting & Reprocessing Infrastructure” report, a clear bottleneck is present in the U.K.’s infrastructure for plastic recycling. The report was published by RECOUP, a U.K.-based nonprofit that provides expertise and guidance across the plastics recycling value chain, and is available to all the organization’s members.
The report highlights the U.K.’s ability to sort household and nonconsumer plastic packaging into separate plastic streams and reprocess it into raw materials and products.
RECOUP mapped recycling facilities and researched their operational capacities to produce a number of scenarios that compare recycled plastic packaging requirements with the U.K.’s ability to produce the material. The scenarios looked at benchmarks set by the U.K. Plastic Packaging Tax and if export markets, which the U.K. relies heavily on to achieve its recycling targets, are not an option.
The research found significant increases are needed to reprocess plastic packaging in the U.K. This includes the need to increase recycling infrastructure by five times for household plastic packaging and nine times for food-grade plastic packaging. Unless resolving this reprocessing bottleneck is given priority and investment, the U.K. will not be able to claim it has a world-leading recycling system, RECOUP says.
The organization says it believes it is imperative that adequate funding from the reform of the U.K.'s Packaging Producer Responsibility System (otherwise known as extended producer responsibility) goes to the right areas. Reprocessing infrastructure needs significant investment and support, particularly when these businesses are open to variable commercial conditions, such as increased energy costs and reduced material value, RECOUP says.
Steve Morgan, head of policy and Infrastructure at the organization, says: “The future of the U.K.’s recycling solutions for plastic packaging is in its own hands, but I’m afraid we might let slip this perfect opportunity to channel appropriate funding into the high impact areas that could transform the U.K.’s infrastructure capabilities. Effective collection and material sorting to deliver high-quality recycling outputs is essential, but we are at risk around not supporting the reprocessing sector. The capacity to produce the final raw materials to enable a circular economy to exist will just not be in place.”