search.noResults

search.searching

dataCollection.invalidEmail
note.createNoteMessage

search.noResults

search.searching

orderForm.title

orderForm.productCode
orderForm.description
orderForm.quantity
orderForm.itemPrice
orderForm.price
orderForm.totalPrice
orderForm.deliveryDetails.billingAddress
orderForm.deliveryDetails.deliveryAddress
orderForm.noItems
From clear to eternity: plastic waste recycling


WHEN we think about pollution and the need to recycle, probably the first substance which leaps to mind is plastic. Shows such as the BBC’s Planet Earth II and numerous campaigns from organisations such as Greenpeace have done much to raise awareness of the harm plastic waste can do if not disposed of correctly.


Which perhaps explains the impressive boost in plastic recycling rates in the last 20 years. According to the British Plastics Federation (BPF), in 2000 only 13,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were recycled compared to over 370,000 tonnes a year today. Across Europe, a total of 70% of all plastic, domestic and commercial, is recovered, and 32% of all plastic is recycled.


Encouraging numbers indeed. But how does that break down when we consider just the UK on its own?


Currently the UK does not yet have the facilities to deal with all of its own plastic waste internally. “There is a lack of capacity to process all plastic waste here, meaning exports are needed,” explained Helen Jordan, BPF Senior Recycling Issues


14


Executive. “Material which is reprocessed here may be exported once it has been turned into high quality recyclate in line with demand.


“We need investment in the UK’s recycling infrastructure – there have been a number of new facilities announced but this needs to continue in order to reduce the current reliance on export and increase UK capacity.”


Lack of facilities, however, is not the only reason so much of our plastic waste is sent abroad. When a UK reprocessor issues a Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) it excludes non-target material, but when they issue PRNs for export (known as PERNs) it includes the non-target material. “This incentivises export over UK reprocessing, again working against the desire to reduce our reliance on exports and process more material on our shores,” added Helen.


Contamination


As with all recycling, one of the biggest challenges the recycled plastic industry faces is educating the customer so that the maximum amount of material is


 Helen Jordan, Senior Recycling Issues Executive at BPF


generated with the minimum amount of contamination.


Paul Rendle-Barnes, the Director of Recycling for Indigo Environmental Group, which specialises in plastic waste, said: “Our mantra has always been, ‘quality, quality, quality’. We mainly deal with commercial suppliers, but even then we’re still having to advise potential suppliers that if they contaminate what they’re trying to sell us then it really destroys

Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52