Did you know that the UK faces a major challenge when it comes to mixed recycling? ???

In the UK, the infrastructure in place to process our rubbish is woefully inadequate. This is partly due to the fact that historically, a lot of recycling waste – especially plastics – was shipped to China to be processed. However, China recently shuttered its doors, meaning a gaping hole was ripped into the UK’s recycling chain and continues to pose problems, particularly in respect to plastic packaging and films. While tins and glass can be hurled indiscriminately into the recycling bin, plastics pose myriad issues.

The UK is the 4th largest producer of plastic waste per capita globally. But according to Greenpeace, “the problem isn’t that people aren’t recycling enough”. The organisation points to wider issues including overproduction of disposable plastics, inadequate recycling infrastructure and the overseas exportation of waste.The British Plastics Federation estimates that 46% of the UK’s plastic waste is in fact incinerated, 17% goes to landfill, just 10% is recycled in the UK and 19% is exported, supposedly for recycling (see below). ?

There are approximately 40,000 different types of plastics in existence. For the sake of our sanity, these have been condensed down into seven types (although admittedly one of these is ‘miscellaneous’), which are represented as numbers on the side of different varieties of plastic. Each one of them is treated with a different chemical process and are bound together in different ways, meaning they require different processes to be recycled. ♻️

As such, the rhyme “if in doubt, leave it out” has got things right. Chucking a non-recyclable item in with the rest could risk ruining a whole batch of collected mixed recycling.?️?

Also to take into consideration, materials like glass, paper and metal can – at least in theory – be recycled indefinitely. However, plastic diminishes in quality each time it’s recycled, meaning it can only be processed once or twice before becoming useless. This highlights a sad truth of recycling – it’s not the best solution.

Lastly, even if you have diligently sorted your recycling at home before collection, it’s not guaranteed that your recycling will be used in the production of new materials. This is because, as mentioned above, the UK is in the habit of outsourcing its recycling to other nations. A report from the National Audit Office found that more than half of the packaging designated as ‘recycled’ is sent abroad for processing, without the guarantee that it will be recycled rather than burned or placed in landfills.

For example, a Friends of the Earth report highlighted large quantities of plastic being burned at a paper mill in Indonesia, because it had incorrectly been labelled as ‘paper’ by British sorting machines. In the year ending in October 2018, the UK exported 611,000 tonnes of recovered plastic packaging to other countries. Among the top four destination countries were Malaysia and Indonesia – both of which have some of the highest rates of plastic ocean pollution. ?

Reusing, opting for recycled plastic products and – even better – minimising the amount of plastics you buy in the first place are far better options. On the manufacturing side, large companies should consider moving away from plastics and experimenting with new materials instead. As a consumer, we can encourage this by looking to buy products from those manufacturers that have made the switch to more sustainable materials for their packaging…? 

#RecycleRight #SustainableUK #WasteReduction #GoGreen #RecyclingRevolution #TakeAction