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UK Plastic
Polymers Market by Volume (‘000 tonnes)
2006 -2013
According to the British Plastics Federation, UK industry consumes
around 4.8 million tonnes of polymers a year and produces around
2.5 million tonnes of end product. The largest area of demand is
packaging. It is estimated that around 2 million tonnes of plastic
packaging is used in the UK, but this figure is higher when
including the packaging used with imported goods. After packaging,
the second largest area of demand is for polymers is that of
construction products, accounting for around 22% of UK polymer
supply. Electrical equipment, housewares, agricultural products and
vehicle manufacture account for around 30% of demand between
them.The remaining 12% of demand is split between medical
equipment, toys and sporting goods, clothing and other.
In the UK, it has been estimated that plastic waste
arisings have been growing by around 2%, reaching around 3.4m tonnes in
2007. For 2008, it is estimated that this level has remained static,
underpinned by reduced levels of consumer demand in the second half of
the year. Consumer goods packaging comprises around 60% of the total,
while non-consumer packaging accounts for a further 13% or so. Waste
electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and plastic from end of life
vehicles (ELVs) each account for around 6 –7%.
Primarily driven by the Packaging Waste Regulations and
the associated Packaging Recycling Notes system, plastic packaging is by
far the most recovered type of plastic products. Of the estimated 750,000
tonnes of waste plastic recovered in 2008, packaging comprised around
70%. However, the focus of household /consumer plastic recycling has been
very much on bottles, as these are the easiest fraction for local
authorities to recover in order to meet EU and Government recycling
targets
Over 80% of plastic packaging waste recovered has
usually been exported, mostly to China, for reprocessing. This has been
in part due to a shortage of HDPE and PET reprocessing capacity in the UK
and partly because of the higher prices offered by Chinese reprocessors.
With substantial PET and HDPE reprocessing capacity coming on-stream in
2008, the UK is now better placed to recycle bottle waste. The key factor
has been the development of the UK’s first ‘bottle-to-bottle’
reprocessing plants.
The UK plastic reprocessing industry itself is small
with few market entrants in recent years. It is estimated that there are
around 200 companies recycling plastic waste, most of which handle less
than 10k tonnes p.a. and/or have annual turnovers below £5m. Some of the
larger operators are divisions of plastics products manufacturers e.g.
British Polythene Industries (BPI) Recycled Products and Linpac
Packaging, but most are dedicated plastic waste reprocessors that either
produce recyclate, supplied to manufacturers, or that manufacture
end-products themselves.
Since 2006 several have invested heavily in developing
substantial new capacity, particularly in the area of ‘closed loop’
packaging recycling. Among these are Closed Loop London, AWS Ecoplastic,
Jayplas, Intercontinental Recycling and Baylis Recycling. |
