LAWR

WASTE HANDLING Recycling tubs and yoghurt pots: Challenges and opportunities Andrew Bird, chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), considers what progress has been made in plastics recycling and shares his views on what challenges still remain for the whole supply chain. hen it comes to plas- tics a local authority recycling officer's lot used to be summed up with two phrases, 'margarine tubs' and 'yoghurt pots'. These were the focus of households' increasing desire to recycle when plas- tic recycling was traditionally formed around plastic bottle collection sys- tems. Whilst today more collection sys- tems offer a wider variety of containers and plastics for collection, the fact that the terms 'plastics' covers such a wide range of materials continues to provide challenges throughout the secondary resource supply chain. What messages do local authorities give to households? How prescriptive should they be in specifying the types of plastic they want? How do reprocessors manage the mix of materials they then receive and how do we all deal with plastics that are not plastics? Faced with these issues you could take the stance that there is still a long way to go for plastics recycling in the UK. However, ten years ago we would have been thrilled to have a problem where the public were 'keen' to give us their used plastic, so the problems of today should not disguise the progress of yesterday. The breadth and quantity of plastic collections that local authorities now offer is impressive and contributes to good levels of recycling. However, the recycling rates do not match the 75% level people claim to be recycling. So whilst people realise that recycling is a good thing they do not always follow that through with actions. A recent study by Exeter University, supported by Coca Cola, showed there is still a lack of understanding from the public about what happens to their waste. Should we really be surprised by this though given the food chain issues recently highlighted how removed and we are from that. If we are not informed about where food comes from it would be reason- able to assume people are not being informed about the waste process. As with all packaging and products the answers lie with all parts of the supply chain and more importantly all parts of the chain working with each other, joined up design and decisions that consider the implications on others in the chain when one link is altered. Inevitably there are conflicts and con- flicting messages throughout – one only needs to see how the debate about bio- degradable 'plastics' is developing. This is likely to lead to some com- promises, food quality and protec- tion versus the consolidation of the types of plastic used in the packag- ing. Compromises can still bring about improvements on the current situation though should not always be viewed as failure. An event such as the Plastics Recycling Expo provides the opportu- nity to discuss these issues with eve- ryone involved in the plastics chain. Developing an understanding of why we all do what we do in each link can be the first important step in then developing better ways of working and designing new systems that use fewer resources at the start and capture more at the 'end' (or the new beginning when you think of a circular economy). Who knows where we could be in another ten years' time?" Andrew Bird is chair of LARAC. 14 Local Authority Waste & Recycling June 2014 W CDEnviro Ltd. T: +44 28 8676 7900 E: info@cdenviro.com W: cdenviro.com Gully Waste, Road Sweepings and Trommel Fines Recycling • In many cases reduction in landfill over 85% • Washed grit suitable as a non-structural fill secondary aggregate • Mobile plant option can offer processing at a number of sites • Return on Investment typically within 2 years

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