Non-bottle household plastic packaging – margarine tubs, fruit trays and yoghurt pots which are a recycling bugbear for many consumers - can now be recycled. These are the results of trials run by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme). And new funding will stimulate UK recycling infrastructure to enable this to happen.

Much of this plastic packaging ends up in landfill, but WRAP’s research based on the trials shows this does not have to be the case. The work shows for the first time that collecting of non-bottle household plastic packaging, reprocessing it and finally manufacturing it into useful popular items, is both technically and commercially viable. Recycling of this plastic packaging is also the best environmental option.

This news comes as increasing numbers of householders are looking to recycle more. Now the business case is proven, WRAP is also launching a £2 million capital grant competition to help the recycling supply chain build the capacity for recycling more plastics packaging. At the moment, more than 180,000 tonnes of plastic bottles are collected for recycling in the UK. But currently there are very limited facilities to recycle non-bottle household plastic packaging.

Marcus Gover, Director of Market Development at WRAP said: “The grant is designed to help stimulate the development of waste management infrastructure and boost recycling capacity by at least 40,000 tonnes per year by 2011. In support of the grant scheme, WRAP has also published further research designed to inform the choices and decisions made by local authorities and businesses at every stage of the plastics recycling process. The suite of research available looks at the opportunities and financial implications of recycling more non-bottle household plastics packaging and examines the practical and commercial viability of developing the next stage in the recycling chain.”

Quelle: WRAP

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