Viridor calls for minimum recycled plastic content

United Kingdom-based Viridor has called on the U.K. government to introduce a minimum requirement on the use of recycled plastic in new products. The company, which operates some 320 facilities in the U.K., states that adding the minimum content would keep plastics off beaches, out of oceans and within the national economy.

In an interview with the BBC’s The One Show, Sarah Heald, corporate affairs and investor relations director at Pennon, Viridor’s parent company, said the company wanted members of the public to view discarded materials as Viridor does – as a resource rather than rubbish.

“Packaging is designed with material choice and dye influenced by a desire to tempt consumers to buy these products, but, increasingly, we are finding that what consumers find most attractive is recyclability,” Heald commented.

She said it was important to understand that recycling was not just about collection – what is removed in curbside collections. Collected materials must be given a purpose and we all need to play a part in ensuring that closed loop recycling – which sees materials recycled and given another life – is a success, said Heald.

“This has to start with consumer brands and retailers – packaging must be designed for recyclability and manufacturers need to want to receive recycled plastic back to stimulate market demand for this commodity.

“We are calling for a government requirement on the use of recycled materials because we believe that, while some are responding to the concerns of the U.K. public and rising to the challenge of using recycled material, much more can be done.

“If we achieve this, if consumers in the supermarket seek out products [packaged with] recycled materials and adopt the ‘right stuff, right bin’ approach, companies like Viridor can sort the materials and, because we have invested in a reprocessing facility in Skelmersdale [U.K.], we can create flakes or pellets and return plastic to the manufacturing process. This closes the loop.”

She added that if government could support local authorities in offering a standardized collection system, this would help to remove household confusion and further boost recycling efforts.

There were technical challenges to recycling plastics with tonnage in the system to which dyes and additional material have been added.

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An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

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An elevated cab is one of several features improving operational efficiency at the Macon County Solid Waste Management agency in North Carolina. When it comes to waste management, efficiency, safety and reliability are priorities driving decisions from day one, according to staff members of the Macon County Solid Waste Management Department in western North Carolina. The agency operates a recycling plant in a facility originally designed to bale incoming materials. More recently, the building has undergone significant transformations centered around one machine: a SENNEBOGEN telehandler (telescopic handler).

Heald said, however, there was good news with some 70 percent of U.K. supermarkets seeking Viridor’s advice on recyclability during the last 18 months.

“We welcome these conversations, which allow us to work with consumer brands and retailers to ensure that more of the products on supermarket shelves can be recycled.”