For many years we have asked Hampshire residents to recycle plastic bottles and we have good markets for these in the UK.

We know that many residents would like to recycle more types of plastic packaging as well as bottles.

We have been looking at how to do this for some time, keeping a close eye on markets and technology.  We have concluded that it is not the right time to start to collect mixed plastic – yet. There are four main reasons why:-

Reason 1 – Finding someone to buy the material 

Plastic packaging waste is quite bulky but very light compared to other materials such as glass or paper. To get the most environmental benefit from recycling any material, it is best to move it as little as possible to avoid transport costs, fuel use and air pollution.

The only market that we can sell mixed plastic waste to at the moment is in Asia. We have very little information about what would happen to the material once it gets there. For example, we don’t know if all of it would be used nor what conditions the people who sort it are working under.  We are sure Hampshire’s residents would not feel happy if some material they separate for recycling ends up being shipped half way round the world only for some of it to be buried or burned.

Reason 2 – Having enough space

If we asked people to put other plastic packaging in their recycling bin or box, it may not be large enough to cope. In some ways this would be a good problem to have, but the same limits will apply to the collection vehicles and our “MRF” sorting facility. To change the scale of everything just to collect material which has a low value - and may be exported - would not be making the best use of our space, time or Council Tax payers’ money. 

Reason 3 – getting plastic mixed up with other materials

The MRF sorting facilities in Hampshire have advanced automatic and manual sorting designed and set up to deal with paper, cardboard, cans and plastic bottles. If we did start to accept other kinds of plastic we would not be able to sort all the recyclables so efficiently. We could slow down the whole operation but then we would not have enough time to process everything.  Another approach might be to keep running at the same speed but accept that more plastic could end up mixed in with other materials, especially paper. This would affect the quality of paper and would result in paper being rejected by the paper mills we supply.

Reason 4 - Food Scraps

Some plastic packaging is used for foods like margarine, yoghurt and wrapped meat. If, as we ask them to do, everyone cleaned these containers before they are put out for recycling there would not be a problem. Unfortunately our experience is that not everyone does this (although this is something we continue to work on). This means that food packaging could end up being very smelly and food residues could be rubbed off onto other, clean materials like newspapers. This would make the job of sorting and transporting them very unpleasant and would also reduce their value.

Conclusion

All of the above problems could be solved in time and we are looking for ways of doing this. 

In the meantime, we think we can do more for the environment by concentrating on increasing the amount of recycling of materials we can easily process. Our business plan reflects this.

If you would like more information on plastics and plastic packaging recycling here are some useful websites.

Useful links 

www.incpen.org.uk
www.wrap.co.uk
www.wastewatch.co.uk

Project Integra
December 2006

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