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Volume of Plastic Packaging Collected for Recycling
2005-2010
 According
to the British Plastics Federation (BPF), 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 being
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 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% a year, reaching around 4.5 million tonnes in 2010.
There are
some 50 groups of plastics, with hundreds of different varieties, all of
which are potentially recyclable. However, problems with recycling mixed
materials means that the recycling market is dominated by six of the most
common polymer types, many of which are used in packaging. While it is
unlikely that there will be a dramatic upturn in the variety of plastics
recycled, with investment in recycling plant only financially viable for
the more commonly occurring products, legislative influences are likely
to produce significant changes in the product mix over the next few
years.
The market
structure is complex, with recycling of post-use plastic involving
collection, sorting, reprocessing and incorporation of recycled polymer
into new products. Some companies focus on only one area of activity,
while other, often larger, players are active in several. The benefits of
reusing industrial process waste in-house, combined with the requirement
for producers in some sectors to meet recycling targets, have encouraged
some plastics manufacturers to run a recycling operation, commonly
incorporating recycled plastic into a proportion of their own products.
The
domestic sector represents the largest source of post-use plastic waste.
While the number of local authorities operating collection schemes has
increased in recent years, kerbside collection is the method most likely
to encourage participation by the general public. Meanwhile, recovery of
plastic from the commercial and industrial sectors is likely to be
encouraged by increasingly comprehensive legislation.
Use of
recycled polymer by manufacturers has traditionally depended upon it
offering a significant price advantage over virgin polymer, with usage
historically constrained by the low prices of virgin material. In
addition, the market for recycled polymer has been limited by the
perception amongst some end-use sectors (e.g.: the construction industry)
that it is of inferior quality.
Within the
food packaging industry, the largest single market for plastic, usage is
limited by safety concerns, although recycled plastic can be used,
sandwiched between layers of virgin polymer. Further growth of the
recycled plastics market is dependent upon finding applications for the
reprocessed polymer, with potential areas of development analysed in the
report. |
