Category Archives: Recycling and Biodegradable News

UK packaging recycling obligations met from 2014 results

UK packaging recycling, the Environment Agency has confirmed that the annual obligation for the amount of packaging waste recycled in 2015 has been met with the help of carry from 2014.

UK packaging recycling

UK packaging recycling Carry it refers to recycling that has taken place in December of the previous year but held against the current years recycling target.

Recycling figures (excl. carry in) show that 8,476, 729 tonnes of packaging waste was either reprocessed in the UK or exported against a target of 7,487,312 tonnes.

The final total for the year for paper was 3,667,387 tonnes against a net requirement of 2,715,816 tonnes, while wood came in at 374,991 tonnes and thus reaching above its 254,836 obligation.

Glass achieved its overall target with a 40,483 tonne surplus in glass remelt against a target of 1,035,167. Glass aggregate however only managed to produce 501,162 tonne return with a requirement of 537,080 tonnes.

Plastic which experienced an incredibly volatile year only met the obligation target with the help of a 65,444 tonne carry in from 2014, coming in at 891,141 tonnes against a 916,451 tonne target in year.

Steel fell agonisingly short in what was again very difficult trading conditions, achieving 363,927 tonnes on a target of 364,477 tonnes all be it with 23,948 tonne carry in acting as a buffer.

Aluminium registered 76, 027 tonnes, falling slightly short of its 76,252 tonne target with a 4,186 carry in taking it over the line.

Speaking on the 2015 Q4 supply figures Andrew Letham, sales and marketing manager at The Environment Exchange, told, the most notable returns was in plastic, where despite tough trading conditions there was a 23% increase on Q3 at 263,055 tonnes, the largest return ever seen in plastic. He said the 2015 figures brought some ‘staggering’ results in what were very difficult trading conditions.

The Environment Exchange said as new targets were confirmed alongside the budget, the agency recognised difficulties in plastic and reduced the increase from an intended 5% to a 2% increase until 2020. However, demand is still going to be higher than 2015 with a 35,000 tonne reduction in carry in.

Letham said: “If we continue to produce returns as seen in Q4 then we will ease past the revised targets but one would suggest that it should be taken as the exception rather than the rule,”. “Glass will be frozen at 77% with a 1% increase per year up to 80% which should see us achieve target this year but we will get further information on the 22 April with the release of the Q1 supply figures for 2016 when we will see if the current feeling of relative comfort in the market across all materials is to continue.”

Coffee Chains pressured to recycle better

Coffee Chains have come under the spotlight with chef and anti-waste campaigner Hugh Fearnley-Whttingstall claiming coffee chains aren’t doing enough to recycle.

He claimed that the cups are “barely recyclable at all” and “can’t be recycled through any of the normal public waste collection services, who are consistently diverting them to be incinerated or sent to landfill”. He also claimed that Coffee Chains such as Starbucks and Costa were misleading consumers over the green credentials of their cups.

Fearnley-Whttingstall’s campaign, which will feature in the next episode of his series Hugh’s War on Waste, follows on from news that McDonald’s, James Cropper and Simply Cups have linked up to recycle paper cups.

It’s estimated that around 2.5 billion paper cups are used in the UK each year but most are not recycled among household waste and cup collection has proved to be problematic. In addition, the cups are polyethylene-coated; Simply Cups is currently the only company that recycles plastic-lined cups.

FPA executive director Martin Kersh said: “I think it highlights that paper cups are recyclable but not enough are being recycled. If something positive can come out of this campaign then it would be to give the process a push.

“Simply Cups have done a fantastic job and it needs more publicity. When cups are recycled you get a phenomenally good material. James Cropper have made a big investment – the numbers must make sense.

“However, on this issue there has been a lack of facilities and funding. Why can’t PRN money be used? Also, there is a lack of consistency from local authorities.”

Ikea considers mushroom-based packaging

Ikea is considering packaging some of its products with biodegradable fungus-based packaging to replace polystyrene.

Ikea
Ikea, the new biodegradable fungus-based packaging will be more easy to recycle and help reduce wastage.

Joanna Yarrow, head of sustainability for Ikea in the UK, said polystyrene is very difficult to recycle.

“We are looking for innovative alternatives to materials, such as replacing our polystyrene packaging with mycelium – fungi packaging.”

Mycelium is the part of a fungus that grows in a mass of branched fibres, and US firm Ecovative developed the mushroom packaging product, by letting the mycelium grow around clean agricultural waste, such as corn stalks or husks.

Mycelium packaging can be disposed of by throwing it in the garden where it will biodegrade naturally within a few weeks.

Speaking at an event this week, Yarrow added: “The great thing about mycelium is you can grow it into a mould that then fits exactly. You can create bespoke packaging.”

Ikea reelased a statement saying: “IKEA wants to have a positive impact on people and planet, which includes taking a lead in turning waste into resources, developing reverse material flows for waste materials and ensuring key parts of our range are easily recycled. IKEA has committed to take a lead in reducing its use of fossil –based materials while increasing its use of renewable and recycled materials.

“Mycelium is one of the materials IKEA is looking into, but it is currently not used in production.”

Ecovative supplies packaging to computer giant Dell, and there are s a few companies that use the product in the UK.

Tackling Litter Paxman Slams UK at FPA Conference

Co-ordinated initiatives are the only way to Tackling Litter and prevent the UK from being a “rubbish dump”, according to TV presenter Jeremy Paxman.

He was speaking at the Foodservice Packaging Association’s annual environment conference in Solihull. The event debated what the UK needed to do to Tackling Litter and examined the issue of recycling.

In his presentation, Paxman, who is patron of Clean up Britain, claimed that tackling litter costs local authorities £1bn a year. He added that while individuals are responsible for dropping litter, empty cans, bottles, packets and burger wrappers are the kind of advertising that no brand would want.

“This has become a filthy country,” he said. “What does living in a rubbish dump say about us? We have lost self-respect. Unless business acts differently then there will be taxes, laws and legislation changes.”

Paxman urged a co-ordinated initiative to tackle litter, calling for a raft of bodies to come together. He added that government had “failed to address the problem” and that it’s lack of financial support meant that the private sector needed to fund initiatives.

Also speaking on litter was Derek Robertson from Keep Scotland Beautiful, who gave examples of initiatives that had succeeded. He added that a “common voice and collective action will have an impact”.

The founder of Hubbub, Trewin Restorick, pointed to a month-long initiative in Villiers Street, central London, which engaged with the public and observed how people littered. He added over the month, litter dropped by 26%.

Emma Cunningham, senior pollution campaigns officer at the Marine Conversation Society, added that £15m is spent on removing beach litter every year. She added that plastic was a serious problem as it never biodegrades, “it just weathers down to smaller and smaller pieces”.

The issue of recycling was also debated at the conference with representatives of McDonald’s, Nestle and Veolia.

Boomerang Plastics recycling plant shuts down

Midlands-based recycling firm Boomerang Plastics recycling plant shut down by parent group Summit Systems.

It brings to an end four years of Boomerang Plastics recycling operations, with all creditors paid and the site being cleared and equipment sold. A spokesperson told 12 staff have been made redundant, two of whom have been transferred to other divisions.

Boomerang Plastics was established in 2011 and expanded rapidly on the back of a contract to process used Muller yogurt pots. It comprised a unique processing line developed to separate the unusual mixture of part-clean plastic pots, yogurt, printed wrappers, card and foil – Warwick University was involved in the initial line design that addressed the issues of multiple materials and colours.

A line was conceived that harnessed cutting edge density separation technology, cold washing, hot washing, chemical separation and colour picking. Specialist software was used to map out the design intricacies of the plant.

It processed 150-200 tonnes of waste per week which enabled circulation back into the packaging chain.

Mike Jordan, managing director of plastics ancillary business Summit Systems and owner of Boomerang Plastics, said the business was plagued with a number of issues ranging from a 2014 arson attack that led to a relocation, a hike in both electricity and insurance prices, the plummeting price of oil and, ultimately, a lack of incentive to recycle in the UK.

Jordan said he would now be focussing on supplying the industry with recycling equipment.

“We are of course disappointed with the outcome, but, we have learnt some valuable lessons and have walked away ensuring all our creditors were paid. We will now be focusing on driving forward our successful new recycling systems business ‘Summit Recycling Systems’ which will design and build MRF and PRF sorting plants.”

The plastic recycling industry is going through tough times, with the low price of recycled material, high insurance and a lack of incentive to recycle in the UK have left many businesses unfeasible.

Globally, the market for plastics recycling is not getting smaller as plastic usage increases. However it is cheaper to recycle internationally where labour costs are low hence the UK market is shrinking.

There is also criticism about the UK’s recycling targets, which some experts claim are not genuinely met as collecting and exporting is not the same as recycling.