Packaging industry welcomes mixed plastics recycling boost
The Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) welcomed the news as encouraging but said more needed to be done to stop the contamination of plastic in the recycling stream that is presently damaging the UK sector’s eco-efforts.
The trend towards lightweighting in the packaging industry meant that plastics have historically been overlooked - as local authorities chased recycling targets by focussing on the heaviest materials, said PAFA.
The packaging association was reacting to a £1.2m award by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to recycling company WES Greenstar that would add 20,000 tonnes per year of re-processing capacity for non-bottle household plastic packaging such as margarine tubs, yoghurt pots and meat trays by 2013.
Research launched last summer demonstrated the commercial and technical viability of recycling and re-processing non-bottle household plastic packaging, in addition to the environmental benefits, said WRAP.
PAFA chief executive designate, Barry Turner, said; “This major boost for mixed plastics recycling capacity should now help convince everyone that plastics are a very valuable resource which not only protect goods from damage and spoilage but also have a useful ongoing life.
“Most people think that mixed plastics in their waste bin cannot be recycled – and most local authorities leave mixed plastics at the bottom of the heap when it comes to collections for recycling because their performance has always been measured on weight.”
Plastics ignored
The industry group said the potential for recycling plastics had been “largely ignored”, leading the sector being targeted by the green lobby.
“The technology to recycle plastics and recover its value has been around for a long time but by chasing recycling targets by weight, the inherently lightweight plastic packaging has been ignored,” added Turner. “Now is the time to recognise plastics for their real worth as part of the environmental solution rather than a problem.”
PAFA called for the introduction of consistent collection systems around the UK in order to dispel public confusion over what containers can be recycled.
“Once we have consistency in collection, we are on the way to a ‘joined-up’ waste management system in the UK,” said Turner.
