| One problem, however, is the the remnants of food that can get stuck to the inside of the container to consider. Contamination, both from food and other polymers, is one of the reasons that energy-from-waste (EfW) facilities could be a good destination for some plastics waste. This process is widely considered as preferable to landfill and seems to be garnering support in the corridors of power. Philip Law, public and industrial affairs director at the British Plastics Federation (BPF), says the number of planning applications for EfW facilities is increasing. "The UK has been slow to recognise the value of energy from waste compared to other European countries. As a net importer of energy, EfW certainly has its attractions as a means of helping the deficit," he says.
The value of recycling
EfW might be a good route for some plastic waste. But, as the BPF says, the best way to recover the value of the materials is through recycling. Environmental benefits aside, recycled plastics can be some 40% cheaper than virgin polymers, and research by Wrap has shown it is commercially feasible to collect and recycle mixed plastics, providing a factory is built to process at least 80,000 tonnes of material each year.
Improving plastics recycling rates is at the heart of the Plastics 2020 Challenge, launched by the BPF, together with Plastics Europe and the Packaging and Films Association, in July. "Not only are landfill sites filling up, but used plastics are too valuable a resource to be landfilled," says Law. No one in the supply chain would dispute the scheme's goals, but plastics charity Recoup has highlighted the importance of getting all stakeholders involved. "It will be interesting to see whether the Plastics 2020 Challenge can succeed in gaining enough multi-sector support to turn debates and discussions into tangible actions that deliver real results," says Recoup's business development director Stuart Foster.
The consumer is a key link in the chain and differences between local authority collections remain a hurdle to getting them to put different materials in the correct containers. On-pack information needs to reflect the recycling taking place on the consumer's street, and having 450 different labels is clearly impossible. Recoup suggests that using polymer number codes (see box, right) would confuse rather than encourage recycling and says more work needs to be done in this field. "Ultimately, the information should be based solely on what the plastics reprocessors can accept, rather than what local authorities collect," says Foster.
Chris Dow, managing director of Dagenham-based Closed Loop Recycling, which recycles PET and HDPE bottles, echoes this view. "It's going to be a tough job to have complete consistency to collections, but having a lot of different systems doesn't help anybody," he says.
New frontier
Dow is keen to expand the range of materials he can process, but admits that each material presents a different challenge. "There's no doubt the next exciting frontier will be other non-bottle plastics, like polypropylene (PP). But each polymer requires a different sorting and recycling process," he says. PET, for example, melts at 260¡ãC while HDPE melts at 120¡ãC.
Another of the leading lights in plastics recycling is Greenstar WES. The Redcar-based firm has been involved in recycling HDPE and heavily contaminated films. Managing director James Donaldson says the key to good recycling is cleaning the product. Films can be more contaminated than bottles, but it is still possible to recycle them, although businesses and consumers would need to think differently. "Carrier bags are mostly LDPE, but lots of films could be used. A supermarket could say the consumer can have a recycled grey one for free, but pay if they want a brightly-coloured one," says Donaldson.
Donaldson agrees the next big thing in recycling will be PP. As a popular packaging material, for example for ready-meal trays, PP has a solid end market, which is clearly important for a successful recycling business. "To make recycling work you've got to be good at manufacturing, find the high market value and you get a quality product," he says.
Despite targeting particular materials, recyclers are likely to need to continue to handle all plastic types because of the range of plastics in packaging. Indeed, some welcome it if it helps boost recycling across the board. "Recycling has to become the easiest thing to do," says Donaldson. "If it is easier to just throw it in the bin, then that's what people
will do." |
