Mixed industry responses to damning Big Plastic Count survey

2022-07-23 00:18:46 By : Ms. jing shang

There have been mixed responses to the Big Plastic Count survey released last week – which found that household recycling is failing to address the plastic pollution problem.

The report claimed the UK’s recycling systems cannot cope with the amount of plastic packaging waste leaving households – estimated to be a staggering 1.85 billion pieces per week – and insists only 12% of that is likely to be recycled in the UK.

Dave Dalton, chief executive, British Glass, said it was concerning that a staggering amount of plastic is being discarded from UK homes.

“The Big Plastic Count is a great initiative and from a glass industry perspective, we’re glad to see the work this study is doing to highlight major issues around recycling single-use plastics.

“The results of this survey clearly demonstrate that recycling alone is not enough and that we must begin to consider more options for food and drink packaging. There is no doubt glass can be a sustainable, more durable alternative to single use plastics, particularly when it comes to food and drink packaging. Industry production volume of glass packaging for the food and beverage sector has seen significant growth over the past year, increasing by 5% against 2020 figures, to reach its highest level ever recorded. We believe this reflects the shift in attitudes from businesses and consumers towards glass as a packaging material of choice.”

Digital DRS experts Polytag were less welcoming of the report, pointing out that to say recycling doesn’t work, and to dismiss the endorsement of recycling as ‘industry green-wash’, is unhelpful.

Alice Rackley, chief executive of Polytag, said: ““Recycling has the potential to be a crucial weapon in the UK’s armoury, but it has been apparent for some time that unleashing this potential, and accelerating towards a packaging circular economy, requires the UK to invest in radical, transformative solutions.”

She insisted that in the forthcoming deposit return scheme response, the government can do just this; by paving the way for a future-proofed, digitalised alternative that ‘can work alongside reverse vending machines in a hybrid system’.

“Digital deposit return schemes are not only integrated with the UK’s existing kerbside infrastructure, they also, thanks to Polytag technology, allow plastic packaging to be ‘tracked and traced’ through the circular economy. This further increases recycling rates by enabling stakeholders to understand how packaging is handled, sorted and managed ‘post-consumption’, which enables brands to comply with, and governments to enforce, the upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility legislation.

“Piecemeal, cautious changes won’t get us anywhere. Thanks to the innovation of our industry, we have a number of revolutionary solutions staring us in the face. It’s high time we took advantage of them.”

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