UK plastics reprocessing capacity must double by 2022 to handle the additional demands created by recycled content targets.
The government is pushing ahead with plans to ensure 30% recycled content in all household plastic packaging placed on the market.
RECOUP’s latest UK Household Plastic Packaging Sorting and Reprocessing Infrastructure Report 2020 sets out to provide context around the design of the new tax on the production and import of all plastic packaging that doesn’t include at least 30% recycled content.
The research conducted by RECOUP in producing the Infrastructure Report highlights the need for the UK to shift towards more domestic recycling in the UK, in order for the industry to be able to cope with the increasing demands for high-quality recycled plastic.
The report states how the UK’s infrastructure to sort plastic packaging to the required quality and reprocess this material needs to increase in order to handle the additional demands created by both the recycled content target and also to service ambitious commitments by brand leaders to increase circular and environmentally sustainable manufacturing.
However, with the impact of Covid-19, (outlined in RECOUP’s Covid-19 Impact Report), the UK’s plastic recycling infrastructure is challenged further.
Since the global pandemic caused widespread disruptions to UK businesses from March, this has caused a major drop in both oil and Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) prices, subsequently making virgin plastic more attractive and economically viable to packaging producers, driven changes in product and packaging demands, as well as creating logistical challenges such as staff shortages and site closures.
Level of urgency
With HM Treasury continuing with plans to implement the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, there is a ‘level of urgency’ to understand the impact of this and how this recycled content target can be achieved, it says.
RECOUP reports that sorting capacities at Material Recycling Facilities (MRFs) and Plastic Recovery Facilities (PRFs), by volume at least, are not a barrier to meeting a 30% recycled content target.
The UK has an estimated permitted MRF capacity of between 1.6 and 1.9 million tonnes for sorting plastic packaging, and an estimated actual throughput of up to 1,000,000 tonnes per year.
Research found there are significant shortfalls in reprocessing capacity, with an estimated current operational output of 230,000 tonnes.
Research found there are significant shortfalls in reprocessing capacity, with an estimated current operational output of 230,000 tonnes.
There are also challenging commercial conditions and fine profit margins in this sector, with very specific operational and technical challenges around reprocessing plastic film, non-bottle PET and food grade packaging.
Scenarios detailed in the report show the extent of which capacities may be unable to cope with specific changes and requirements.
When comparing the reprocessing capacity against 30% recycled content from plastic packaging types placed on the market, there are significant shortfalls.
These scenarios suggest that the UK’s reprocessing capacity may need to increase by 100% to meet 30% recycled content in all household plastic packaging placed on the market, and by over 200% to meet that target for food grade rigid household plastic packaging.
Domestic recycling
Steve Morgan, Policy & Infrastructure Manager at RECOUP, says the UK must to shift towards more domestic recycling.
He said: “The research conducted by RECOUP in producing the Infrastructure Report highlights the need for the UK to shift towards more domestic recycling in the UK, in order for the industry to be able to cope with the increasing demands for high-quality recycled plastic.
“To deliver the infrastructure to meet a recycled content target, reforming the UK Packaging Producer Responsibility System is essential in order to provide the underpinning foundations and ensure the necessary investment and confidence are in place to help the UK deliver a sustainable business model to build and maintain the required recycling infrastructure for plastic packaging.”
Plastics tax
The Plastic Packaging Tax will apply from April 2022 to plastic packaging manufactured in, or imported into, the UK which contains less than 30% recycled plastic. During the Budget in March 2020, the Government announced some of the main decisions it had taken in the design of the plastics tax, which were informed by a previous public consultation.
The consultation, which seeks feedback on some of the finer details of the tax, closed last week.
In its formal response to the consultation, the Environmental Services Association (ESA) last week said the HMRC must “stay the course” on plastics tax plans – while compostable packaging providers TIPA say the tax must not include plastic that is compostable.
ESA Executive Director, Jacob Hayler, said: “It is important that those responsible for the final design of the plastics tax heed the warnings from multiple sectors, including ours, to avoid loopholes or unintended consequences that may drive packaging towards hard-to-recycle materials or packaging formats – diminishing or reversing the net environmental benefit of the tax.
“Although the economic outlook for the country is uncertain as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, we would urge HMRC to stay the course in both the ambition and implementation of the plastics tax.
“To water down the detail, or to delay implementation, would be costly to the UK’s long-term sustainability goals; the achievement of our national recycling targets; and will be contradictory to the pursuit of a “green recovery” from the crisis.”
To water down the detail, or to delay implementation, would be costly to the UK’s long-term sustainability goals
Writing to the UK Treasury, TIPA said sustainable alternatives to conventional plastic should be exempt from the UK’s new plastic packaging tax.
Daphna Nissenbaum, World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, CEO and co-founder of TIPA said: “It is now well documented that a failure to stem the ever-growing tide of plastic waste is irreparably damaging our oceans, wildlife, natural areas, and personal health.
“Expert evidence and public opinion align in saying that each plastic stream must adapt its own solution immediately. Compostable materials – which have grown in their capability to provide a real replacement for flexible plastic packaging – can fully decompose and return to the earth with the food it packages.
“If the objective of the plastic tax is to reduce harmful plastic pollution and to encourage green alternatives, it falls short of doing this by taxing compostable materials in the same way as virgin plastic.”
