PLASTICS FEATURE
“I do believe that most people want to do what is right when it comes to recycling,” said Paul. “We should facilitate that and not put barriers in place.
“The challenge for domestic recycling is that each council has its own recycling collection scheme so there is no uniform separation of recyclables. This means there isn’t a common message going out to everyone across the UK.
Paul Rendle-Barnes, Director of Recycling for Indigo Environmental Group
the revenue because we then have to segregate it ourselves.
“Some of our bigger automotive clients very quickly figured out that there is a significant difference in price. So we’d always push the quality of the feedstock coming in, which is always directly related to the quality of the finished product going out.”
This is, of course, for commercial clients who rely on uncontaminated waste streams to maximise profits. What then of the plastic recycling habits of the general public?
“I do understand the reasons for councils all having their own
recycling schemes and organising the waste according to each council’s needs. But we also need to get it all back to basics and get the general public more on side.”
“Without consistent collections there is always going to be misunderstanding about whether an item can be recycled within a particular area,” agreed Helen. “It also does not allow for any national communication campaigns clearly detailing what can be recycled and makes on-pack labelling more challenging.
“There is, however, a bit more the public can do to make sure they are separating out their plastic for recycling to increase the amount of captured material. There are items less frequently recycled at home such as plastic from the bathroom.
"There is also the issue of material used ‘away from home’ (or ‘on-the-go’) where collecting uncontaminated material for recycling is a challenge, especially in on- the-street bins. “
Labelling
Clearly labelling waste plastic is hugely important since there are many different types. Some of them are practically impossible to recycle and not every recycling facility is equipped to process every recyclable type.
Many pieces of plastic feature a Mobius loop (the symbol of three arrows in a triangle looping back on themselves) with a number between 1 and 7, identifying it as one of seven categories of plastic, yet even those can be further subdivided when they reach the reprocessor.
“I would suggest most polymer recycling companies start off excelling in one type,” explained Paul. “For ourselves, we target rigid plastics. We also set up the business to handle the contaminated streams as opposed to the beautifully clean and easy stuff.
“The more contaminated streams are more of a challenge to work with, obviously, and the margins between the clean and the dirty materials are similar. However, the clean material streams
The Mobius loop plastic recycling symbols
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