Plastics recycling rate ‘better than expected’
Senior members of the plastics and packaging sector have been presented with the initial findings of a government-backed study on packaging recycling obligations, which it is hoped will allay fears over the scale of work needed to meet plastics recycling targets.
A study into the data on the amount of plastic packaging placed onto the market in 2013 was carried out jointly by Valpak and the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP). The work was commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in February this year.
Forecasts
According to the initial findings of the investigation the flow of plastics in 2013 was 2,260,000 tonnes, around 330,000 tonnes less than the 2,515,809 million tonnes of plastic packaging that Defra estimated had been placed on to the market.
The 2,515,809 million tonne figure, which was put forward in Defra’s recovery and recycling target consultation for 2013-2017, is based on estimates of the amount of packaging placed on the market in 2006, and adjusted to reflect market trends over the amount of packaging being produced.
The plastics sector has argued strongly that based on the obligations calculated by Defra, the packaging recycling targets would be very difficult to hit, with estimates that the volume of plastic packaging collected for recycling may need to rise by around 500,000 tonnes to do so.
Progress
The results of the study would suggest that the progress in recycling plastic packaging, which had a target of 37% for 2013, is actually greater than projected by Defra. The target is due to rise 5% per year up to 2017, when it will reach 57%, it currently stands at 42%.
by Will Date @ Lets recycle.com
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