Until fairly recently the vast majority of plastics recycling concentrated on industrial plastic waste which in general terms tends to be segregated and free from contamination.
Post-consumer and post-commercial plastics such as packaging plastics and plastics derived from WEEE and ELV tend to be contaminated and mixed with other polymers, making cost-efficient recycling extremely difficult.
Whilst the technology is now available to allow certain plastics to be segregated and processed more cost-effectively, it still remains the case that a large amount of plastic waste cannot be segregated and processed, whilst market prices for processed material cannot always justify the costs associated with collection and processing.
As a solution to the above, efforts need to be concentrated on the following:-
- Improvements in the infrastructure for collecting plastic waste
- The identification of alternative higher value markets to cover the costs associated with collection and processing
We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago!
Source: www.wasteonline.org.uk
Whilst efforts have been made to set-up big-hitting material specific schemes such as an automated sorting system for segregating waste plastic bottles, the most significant inroads in terms of plastic recycling have been made in the manufacture of products from contaminated plastic waste.
Every year, an estimated 17˝ billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets. This is equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK.
Source: www.wasteonline.org.uk
Although the technology is not new, the costs associated with the manufacture of ‘plastic wood' products are now more realistic with a number of opportunities being identified whereby items traditionally made from wood can be replaced by a stronger, longer-lasting product made from mixed plastic waste.
Email: info@walesenvtrust.org.uk
Documents
- Plastic Cup Recycling [pdf, 127kb]
Wales Environment Trust Fact Sheet – Plastic Cups - Plastic Recycling [pdf, 145kb]
Wales Environment Trust Fact Sheet – Plastic
In this section:
Services
Links
- British Plastics Federation [External Link, New Window]
- Recovered Plastics Ltd [External Link, New Window]
