RECOUP launches Plastics Recycling Annual Awards

Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP launches the Plastics Recycling Annual Awards 2023 to recognise and celebrate excellence in plastics resource efficiency and recycling, to champion leading a more circular plastics value chain.

Following the success of its inaugural awards, RECOUP is making this year bigger and better, by extending the award categories and holding the awards ceremony as part of its pre-conference networking dinner on Wednesday 27 September.

Rebecca Davis, Membership & Events Manager, at RECOUP comments:
“ We are excited to be able to launch a new equipment and technology focussed award category this year, alongside the previous categories which showcase and reward developments and innovations that are raising awareness of not only plastics recyclability but also reuse potential”.

The awards are FREE to enter and RECOUP invites entries from anyone involved in the plastics resources and recycling value chain who want to be recognised for their work and initiatives under the following award categories:

• Best Development or Innovation to Enhance Plastic Products for Recyclability or Re-Use
• Recycled Plastic Product of the Year
• Best Innovation in Equipment or Technology to Improve the Collection, Sorting, Reprocessing or Re-use of Plastics

Tom Heap of ‘Costing the Earth’ and BBC’s ‘Countryfile’ will join RECOUP Chairman, Jim Armstrong to announce the winners and celebrate at the RECOUP Awards and Pre-Conference Networking Dinner on Wednesday 27 September.

The closing date for award entries is 14 July 2023. Entry is via the RECOUP Awards page.

Award sponsorship packages are still available, please contact enquiry@recoup.org for more information.

The RECOUP Annual Conference takes place on Thursday 28 September. Conference tickets can be booked via the RECOUP website.

For more information, please contact enquiry@recoup.org.

The Toy Story: Recyclability and Beyond!

Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, has completed research into the recycling of hard plastic toys in the UK and highlights some of the key issues with end uses of toys in a new report “Researching the Recyclability of Plastic Toys”.

The report demonstrates the challenges of recycling toys that are no longer used or broken. RECOUP has investigated the current infrastructure available within the UK for collecting and recycling toys and analysed a selection of toy samples to determine their recyclability.

The analysis involved breaking down the components of each toy to determine the materials used and assessing the key challenges of their recyclability, including kerbside recycling in the UK.  The report concluded that many toys contain electronic parts, including batteries, which makes them unsuitable for mechanical recycling.

Richard Cham, Senior Packaging Projects Officer comments:

“Toys are frequently produced of multiple polymer types that are difficult to separate. Not to mention the dangers of electrical components and batteries, which are responsible for damages equalling £100 million annually from electrical fires in waste management sites in the UK.”

The report looks at the key challenges faced by the toy and recycling industries and how to address these with examples of current solutions used in alternate markets.  Toy take-back schemes such as home returns or front-of-store collections are examined, along with the potential pitfalls of a kerbside collection scheme.

Brands and retailers are designing for recyclability in a push to reduce waste and plastic pollution and RECOUP has released its ‘Recyclability by Design’ guidance to help food and drink brands achieve recyclability for their plastic packaging by promoting best practice.

Kate Bedford,  Packaging Project Manager comments:

“There are very few guidelines available for the toy industry, meaning that designing for recyclability is open to interpretation with nobody really knowing if they are heading in the right direction.”

RECOUP aims to help toy manufacturers and designers to make better choices about materials and look towards the end-of-life journey of their products, by taking an in-depth look at how the materials used can be reprocessed and recycled into new products.

To learn more about the Recyclability of Plastic Toys, RECOUP is holding a 30-minute webinar to summarise its key findings and welcomes all toy manufacturers, retailers, local authorities and waste management companies to join the FREE webinar on Tuesday 18th April at 10:30am.

Researching the Recyclability of Plastic Toys report is currently available only to RECOUP members.  For non-members, a short summary of the report has been produced. 

The Recyclability by Design report is freely available to all. 

RECOUP expands its added-value services

Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, expands its service provisions by introducing a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA ) service and its own state-of-the-art laboratory to complement its recognised RecyClass certification service and facilities.

The addition of LCA to RECOUP’s repertoire will enable the organisation to assess the environmental impact of products, goods, and services across their life cycle from raw material extraction through to end-of-life.

RECOUP believe that the use of LCA can assist with informing evidence-based decisions on product development and design, support supply chain and procurement decisions, track performance over time of packaging changes, improve overall environmental outcomes in line with strategy and policy, and challenge misinformation and greenwash.

Katherine Fleet, Head of Sustainability & Circularity comments:  “ RECOUP has been working on building LCA capability to assist members and the wider industry to better inform decision making related to product design in order that decisions are based on environmentally sound evidence rather than emotion”.

RECOUP currently test members’ plastic packaging samples for sortability at a Materials Recovery Facility, free of charge to members as a benefit of membership. The addition of the in-house laboratory has enabled RECOUP to further enhance its testing of plastics samples and material identification.

In particular, the RECOUP laboratory uses near-infrared (NIR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to identify the constituent components of a pack and help determine recyclability.

Richard Cham, Packaging Projects Officer comments: “ I am excited about our future plans for the laboratory, in particular the introduction of FTIR microscopy which will enable the investigation of smaller, hard to see imperfections and contaminants, and give RECOUP the ability to analyse and identify microplastics from separated samples.”

Alongside the laboratory, RECOUP is also a UK provider for RecyClass certification which assesses and evaluates plastic packaging in terms of its recyclability.

Kate Bedford, Packaging Projects Manager at RECOUP comments: “RecyClass assesses the recyclability of plastic packaging, with certification for brand owners and compatibility for packaging manufacturers. RECOUP work as auditors for RecyClass in the UK; offering both members and non-members the opportunity to gain the certification.”

If you are interested in learning more about RecyClass certification email recyclass@recoup.org, for LCA email LCA@recoup.org or lab enquiries, email enquiry@recoup.org.

Snap up an early-bird RECOUP Conference ticket

Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, has opened registrations for its not-to-be missed annual conference, to be held on Thursday 28 September.

The day-long Plastics Resource and Recycling Conference open to all, is once again being held at Kingsgate Conference Centre, Peterborough.  Attendance remains FREE to members, with early-bird discounts available to non-members for a limited time only.  There is also the opportunity to exhibit at the venue, but places are restricted so RECOUP urges early booking.

The plastics resource and recycling value chain event of the year normally sees around 500 delegates in attendance and draws together stakeholders, NGOs, Local and National Government bodies and organisations from across the plastics and wider sustainability value chain, to network and share best practice.

This year REOUP is hosting an Awards & Pre-Conference Networking Dinner for all delegates on the evening of Wednesday 27 September at the Holiday Inn, Peterborough, to network and celebrate with colleagues, ahead of the conference.

RECOUP is delighted to announce Christopher Smith, Resource Efficiency Leader at Comply Direct Ltd, as the winner of a free conference ticket, offered as part of a recent RECOUP membership survey.

Rebecca Davis, Membership & Events Manager at RECOUP commented: “Congratulations to Christopher who completed our membership survey, along with many other existing and potential RECOUP members.  We really appreciate your feedback and look forward to seeing you at the conference”.

Conference sponsorship packages are available and offer organisations an invaluable opportunity to showcase their products and services in front of the most influential people in the plastics resource and recycling value chain.

For more information about sponsorship packages, contact RECOUP Events and Membership Manager, Rebecca Davis, rebecca.davis@RECOUP.org.

To book your place at the RECOUP Plastics Resource and Recycling Conference 2023, please visit the RECOUP website, www.recoup.org.

The Grocer – Feedback letter from the FPF FlexCollect team

“The Grocer recently published an article on FPF FlexCollect which appears to imply that the UK’s largest flexible plastic household collection and recycling pilot has run into difficulty.

In reality, we have three successful pilots underway, and these are already yielding important insights that we will share in due course. The very nature of the pilots means they are intended to identify and overcome challenges to smooth the way for the widespread rollout of household collections of flexible plastics.

The project covers all the operational costs of the trials, which is of huge support for participating local authorities who can essentially get ready for the rollout of kerbside collection for flexible plastics before the 2027 deadline set by the Government.

However, our discussions with interested local authorities have underlined that, although the project covers all the operational costs, greater certainty over longer-term funding streams for collecting new materials is essential.

Equally, our engagement with material recycling facilities has highlighted the potential complexity of handling the material and associated costs, making the case for policy certainty to support investment in updating our current infrastructure and developing new facilities all the more important.

With three more pilots in the pipeline, we’re now recruiting authorities for the remaining three slots. In view of the emerging results from our early pilots and the fantastic engagement from participating households, we’re confident more authorities will be keen to get involved.

The FlexCollect Team“

RECOUP Launch Inaugural ‘Reusability by Design’ Guidance

Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, is delighted to launch the inaugural edition of ‘Reusability by Design’ guidance, to assist stakeholders with the design of reusable plastic packaging that meets the needs of the value chain from packaging manufacturers, packer/fillers, brands, retailers, consumers, service providers through to waste management companies.

The guidance has been produced as a workstream of the UKRI funded TRACE (Technology-enabled Reusable Assets for a Circular Economy) project, led by Pragmatic, with RECOUP, The University of Sheffield, Topolytics, AMRC (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre) and Ken Mills Engineering as partners. Project TRACE aims to address some of the challenges that currently prevent large-scale reuse, such as consumer perception of reusable packaging, traceability of packaging and the lack of design guidance available.

Based on research, surveys, workshops and interviews, the guidance highlights the need for collaboration alongside consideration of the whole value chain needs when designing reusable packaging. The main challenges identified to the adoption of reusable packaging on a large scale to be addressed by design were, ensuring customer uptake, implementation cost and traceability.

The guidance details a number of technical characteristics that must be considered at the design stage of reusable packaging, including material choice and durability, size and shape of the packaging, visibility of the product, closure type, tamper evidence requirements and decoration. However, choices on these must be made in collaboration with an acknowledgement of consumer needs, food safety, washing and cleaning requirements and impact on transportation. The design implications on end-of-life scenarios for the packaging, when it leaks or leaves the reuse system must also be taken into consideration.  In addition, the guidance includes a comprehensive review of how tracking technologies have been used within reuse systems, for food and drink produced by The University of Sheffield.

Katherine Fleet, Head of Sustainability and Circularity at RECOUP commented ‘Reuse represents a key element of achieving the circular economy for packaging and while we have seen the implementation of a number of small-scale trials of reuse systems, large-scale implementation has not yet been achieved. It is hoped that these guidelines, which reflect stakeholder’s views, along with the wider findings of project TRACE, will assist with progress towards a world where reuse is more commonplace for packaging.”

RECOUP would like to thank everyone who contributed to the report, whether this was participation in the survey, workshops, interviews or supplying packaging samples for testing.

The ‘Reusability by Design’ guidance is available to download.

To learn more about the guidance on design requirements for reusable plastic packaging, join our webinar on 2nd March 2023.

UK’s largest flexible plastic household collection and recycling pilot gains momentum

Over 6,500 homes in Maldon, Essex to be part of FPF FlexCollect flexible plastics collection pilot from January 2023.

Maldon District Council is the third local authority to participate in the FPF FlexCollect project to pilot the collection of ‘flexible’ plastics such as plastic bags, confectionery wrappers, foil-lined packaging, plastic film and more from approximately 6,500 households, as part of normal fortnightly recycling collections.

The new service began in January 2023 in selected areas and covers a variety of family sizes and housing types. Those households selected to take part have received information on how to use the new plastic bags and wrapping collection service together with special collection bags before the new service begins.

This is the first year of a three-year trial which, will eventually roll out to all households across the district by the end of 2024.

Flexible plastics are a considerable challenge as they represented 22% of all UK consumer plastic packaging in 2020 but only 8% were recycled from kerbside collections. Supermarket front-of-store collection points recycle plastic bags and wrapping. This trial will help to change that by helping to inform the government and industry on how flexible plastics should be added to existing household recycling collection services ahead of the introduction of consistent collections for all households in England in 2027.

The FPF FlexCollect project was launched in May 2022 and is the most extensive pilot for household collection and recycling of plastic bags and wrapping packaging to be undertaken in the UK. Maldon District Council joins the first two pilots in Cheltenham and South Gloucestershire which started in October 2022. They will be part of nine pilots across England that will help to make recycling plastic bags and wrapping more convenient for everyone, which will increase the amount of packaging that the UK recycles.

The £3m FlexCollect project is co-managed by a consortium comprising the project co-funders, Ecosurety, RECOUP, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and WRAP. It is funded by a number of organisations, such as the Flexible Plastic Fund composed of a number of UK’s leading manufacturers: Mars UK, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever. Partners of the Fund now also include Abel & Cole, Ella’s Kitchen, The Collective, Kiddylicious, Koninklijke Douwe Egberts, KP Snacks, McCain Foods, Tilda, United Biscuits, Vitaflo, Yeo Valley Farms, Lotus Bakeries, Natural Balance Foods, Ocado Retail and WARP Snacks.  Also supporting the project are Defra, UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge (SSPP) and Zero Waste Scotland.

Gareth Morton, Flexible Plastic Fund spokesperson and Discovery Manager at Ecosurety, said: “We are really pleased to usher in the new year with Maldon District Council’s participation in the FPF FlexCollect project.

“It is really exciting and encouraging to have local authorities coming on board and see the project momentum building. Ultimately, this project will benefit communities right across England.

Councillor Penny Channer, Leader of Maldon District Council, said: “I am extremely pleased that our District has been chosen to be part of this trial, and the only authority in Essex to be chosen so far. This trial is another step towards making the District more environmentally sustainable and reducing our carbon footprint through the reduction of plastics going to landfill.

“While this is only a trial at the moment, I look forward to seeing this scheme rolled out to all residents by the end of 2024. I would like to thank officers in our Waste Services team at Maldon District Council, our waste collection contractor, SUEZ UK, and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), for their work in bringing this exciting scheme to the Maldon District.”

Thomas Merry, Technical Development Manager for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and FPF Project Director, said: ‘As a pilot, the project needs to consider how flexible plastics can be incorporated into different collection systems, in different areas. Recruiting Maldon for the project allows us to expand the pilot into the south east and twin-stream recycling collections, at the same time as giving participating residents the opportunity to recycle more of their waste.’For more information visit www.recyclenow.com/plastic-wrapping

RECOUP REFLECT ON 2022 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Plastic resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, is delighted to share the 2022 highlights and accomplishments it has delivered over the past year, thanks to member contributions, grant funding and collaborations, with the guidance of the RECOUP Board of Trustees and Advisors.

As a not-for-profit and charitable organisation, RECOUP ensures all financial support received is used in the most effective ways possible to deliver core, project and research activities to meet its aims and objectives.

Detailed below are just some of the activities and highlights for RECOUP in 2022:

RECOUP reports, updated, researched and launched in 2022 include:

• The UK Plastic Packaging Sorting & Reprocessing Infrastructure Report, exploring household and commercial capacities for plastics recycling
• UK Household Plastic Packaging Collection Survey, which provides a comprehensive review of the collection of household plastic packaging for recycling in the UK
• Recyclability by Design, the essential guide for all those involved in the development and design of plastic packaging
• Recyclability Case Studies, on Bacon & Meat Packaging, Recyclability by Design; Back to Basics and Material Substitution
• Citizen Plastics Recycling Behaviours Insights Study, analysing consumer recycling behaviours
• Best Practice Guide to UK Plastic Recycling Communications, output of the SSPP funded Kent Understand Plastics ‘Live Lab’ project sharing knowledge on how to communicate plastics recycling to individuals and communities
• ESA Quality Standard for Recycled Plastics with support from RECOUP, the BPF and the Recycling Association, to define a set of quality standards for post-consumer recycling
• Recycled Content Verification Systems report, updated guidance and developments in recycled content verification schemes and technologies in collaboration with the BPF

2022 collaborative on-going projects include:

• Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) FlexCollect project, piloting household collection and recycling of flexible plastic packaging
• Compostable Coalition, multi-stakeholder SSPP funded initiative to ensure compostable packaging is effectively collected and recycled
• The SSPP funded TRACE (Technology-enabled Reusable Assets for Circular Economy) project, researching reusable packaging design incorporating RFID technology
• Collaboration with PECT on a Hubbub and Starbucks funded ‘Bring it Back’ project looking at local community barriers to the uptake of reuse systems
• Plastic Packaging Portal, supported by Innovate, to create a new open standard for plastic packaging data
• Completion of the SSPP funded Kent Understanding Plastics ‘Live Lab’ project looking at how communications delivery can influence recycling rates

Alongside the launch of reports and projects, throughout 2022 RECOUP continued to monitor, respond and advise members on policy and legislation including Extended Producer Responsibility, Deposit Return Schemes, consistent recycling collections, the plastic packaging tax, single use plastics and international legislation. Member support for recyclability advice and testing was boosted by the set up of internal laboratory resources. Other topics under development over the year with a number of outputs to be shared in 2023 include life cycle assessment, bioplastics and reuse.

Value chain education, engagement and networking continued in 2022 including attendance at a number of public events under the Pledge2Recycle Plastics brand to promote plastics recycling, delivering school assemblies, exhibiting and speaking at RWM & Letsrecycle Live, organising an outstanding annual RECOUP conference combined with the launch of the inaugural RECOUP awards to celebrate excellence in plastics, recycling and resource efficiency, culminating the year with a successful series of webinars with fantastic attendance and feedback.

Stuart Foster, CEO, of RECOUP comments, “I would like to thank all our members and the wider plastics value chain for their continued support in 2022. The plastic and packaging industries are facing more challenges and questions around sustainability and resources than ever before. With strong support from cross-sector members RECOUP can address and overcome these challenges through increased supply and recycling chain collaboration, impartial debate and delivery of practical and effective plastics recycling initiatives”.

Stuart continued “I am delighted to report that our membership in 2022 continued to grow. Wherever you are on your journey we are here to work with you in 2023 to maximise efficient plastics recycling and look forward to more progress and achievements in the year ahead”.

STARK CHALLENGES AHEAD – 750,000t household plastic packaging goes uncaptured

Plastic resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP estimates that a staggering 750,000 tonnes of post-consumer plastic packaging is not currently collected for recycling, in its new UK Household Plastic Packaging Collection Survey report.  This allows a huge opportunity for upcoming legislative changes, to help bridge the gap between the UK’s current capture rate and what plastic packaging is placed on the market each year.

The newly launched report has found that over 600,000 tonnes of household plastic packaging was collected for recycling in 2021, an increase of 4% on the previous year. This is an overall collection rate of 43% for all household plastic packaging in the UK that is captured at kerbside.

With recycling targets set to increase year-on-year, up to 62% in 2030 proposed in upcoming Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation, greater volumes of currently uncollected material will need to be captured. The report found that in 2021 over 200,000 tonnes of plastic bottles, 250,000 tonnes of plastic pots, tubs and trays, and over 300,000 tonnes of plastic films and flexibles were not collected, offering huge potential for increasing capture rates with the correct legislative drivers.

The report also found that local authorities experience material reject rates of up to 35%, with an average of 13%, highlighting the need for clear and consistent communications to citizens to help reduce contamination and improve material quality.

Tom McBeth, Policy & Infrastructure Projects Manager comments: “It’s reassuring to see that, despite the significant challenges seen over the last few years, collection volumes continue to increase, albeit gradually.”

Tom continues: “What is now important, is it is not allowed to stagnate. With the current flurry of information and activity from Defra, particularly relating to the introduction of EPR, and the funding mechanisms and mandated collection of plastic films for recycling at the kerbside, hopefully, local authorities and waste management providers will have the confidence and assurance to adapt and invest in their collection schemes, to see the capture of more of these currently lost resources.”

As the UK looks to navigate its way through the many changing environmental policies, RECOUP continues to provide expertise and guidance for its members across the plastics recycling value chain and policymakers.

The RECOUP UK Household Plastic Packaging Collection Survey 2022 is available in full for RECOUP members.

For none members, a webinar and data summary provide an overview of the findings

RECYCLING PLASTIC PACKAGING IN THE UK – WHO OWNS THE BOTTLENECK?

Plastics resource efficiency and recycling charity, RECOUP, has published its 2022 UK Plastic Packaging Sorting & Reprocessing Infrastructure report, which found there is a clear bottleneck in the UK’s recycling infrastructure for plastic recycling.

The report, available to all RECOUP members, highlights the UK’s ability to sort both household and non-consumer plastic packaging from other materials into separate plastic streams, and to reprocess it into raw materials and products.

RECOUP mapped the recycling facilities and researched the operational capacities in order to produce a number of scenarios to compare the requirements for recycled plastic packaging against the UK’s ability to produce the material. The scenarios looked at benchmarks set by both the UK Plastic Packaging Tax and if material export markets were no longer an option, something the UK relies heavily on to achieve its recycling targets.

This research found that significant increases are required for reprocessing plastic packaging in the UK. This includes the need to increase the current recycling infrastructure by five times for household-like plastic packaging and nine times for food grade plastic packaging. Unless resolving this reprocessing bottleneck is given the necessary priority and investment, and ultimately, ownership, the UK will not be able to claim it has a world-leading recycling system.

RECOUP believes it is imperative that adequate funding through the reform of the UK’s Packaging Producer Responsibility System (otherwise known as Extended Producer Responsibility) goes to the right areas. The reprocessing infrastructure needs significant investment and support, particularly when these businesses are open to variable commercial conditions, such as increased energy costs and reduced material value.

Steve Morgan, Head of Policy and Infrastructure at RECOUP, commented: “The future of the UK’s recycling solutions for plastic packaging is in its own hands, but I’m afraid we might let slip this perfect opportunity to channel appropriate funding into the high impact areas that could transform the UK’s infrastructure capabilities. Effective collection and material sorting to deliver high-quality recycling outputs is essential, but we are at risk around not supporting the reprocessing sector. The capacity to produce the final raw materials to enable a circular economy to exist will just not be in place.”

As the UK looks to navigate its way through the many changing environmental policies, RECOUP continues to provide expertise and guidance for the plastics recycling value chain and policymakers. For information about becoming a RECOUP member, please contact enquiry@recoup.org.