United Kingdom – The UK-based Resource Association has published a report which seeks to identify the cost to domestic reprocessors of dealing with inconsistent and poor-quality recyclate from the domestic municipal waste stream.
‘The cost impact of poor and inconsistent quality of recyclate for UK reprocessors is significant – recorded at a conservative estimate of at least £51 million (US$ 83 million) annually, representing an average cost per tonne of £1567 (US$ 2550),’ notes the association. Better regulation is required to turn the situation around, it argues.
While the current operational contamination rate for the UK has been set at 5.9%, the average degree of contamination amounts to 9.8% – equivalent to some £75 469 900 (US$ 122 861 341) in annual costs.The highest recorded levels of contamination were 21.8%, translating into £177 826 644 (US$ 289 481 913).
‘In the climate in which claims are made about the efficiencies and reduced costs associated with co-mingled and MRF sorting systems in the UK, we thought it time to understand better how costs that were perhaps incurred in collection systems appear to have shifted and become cost burdens for our manufacturing base,’ the association explains.
‘While the burden of these costs is being absorbed by the reprocessing sector, it acts as a real barrier to future investments and is also costing jobs in the UK economy, by limiting expansion opportunities for UK reprocessors.’
All nine of the association’s members participated in the survey, namely Aylesford Newsprint, Closed Loop Recycling, ECO Plastics, Huhtamaki (Lurgan), Novelis Recycling, Palm Recycling, DS Smith Recycling, Smurfit Kappa Recycling and UPM.
Together, these represent around 3 million tonnes of processing capacity and half of the UK reprocessing capacity for paper and card, plastics, aluminium and glass. Therefore, notes the report, its indicative data are ‘not a full picture of the whole of UK reprocessing’.
For more information, visit: www.resourceassociation.com
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