Pact has potential to ‘transform plastics recycling in the UK’

United Kingdom – Plastics recycling will be boosted by the launch of the UK Plastics Pact, according to The Recycling Association.

Led by WRAP, the UK Plastics Pact has been developed by 42 major food and drink manufacturers and retailers, as well as 15 other organisations including The Recycling Association.

‘The UK Plastics Pact has the potential to transform plastics recycling,’ comments The Recycling Association’s chief executive Simon Ellin. ‘As part of our Quality First campaign, we have called on the supply chain to design packaging that is reusable or recyclable and we are pleased that these large manufacturers and retailers have signed up to do that by 2025.’

According to Ellin, it is good to see that efforts are being made to tackle single-use plastics and that the waste hierarchy has been taken into consideration to encourage reuse and recycling.

‘In particular, a requirement for an average of 30% recycled content in all plastic packaging will help to ensure markets for recyclable plastics are sustainable,’ he argues.

A concern for The Recycling Association, however, is that the pact allows for plastic packaging to be compostable. It is the organisation’s hope that manufacturers and retailers will focus more on reuse and recycling.

‘There is a danger that compostable plastic packaging will make it harder to sort and recycle plastics,’ says Ellin. ‘We must therefore ensure that this pact creates the highest quality recycled plastic to make it possible to meet the 30% recycled content target.’