Plastic resource efficiency and recycling charity Recoup has launched its annual UK Household Plastic Packaging Collection Survey, which has outlined the ‘monumental’ scale of the challenge facing the UK recycling sector.
With all UK local authorities collecting plastic bottles as part of their kerbside service in 2019, local authorities providing kerbside service provision for plastic pots, tubs and trays increased from 88% to 89% and 12% to 14% for plastic films and flexibles, the first increase after six consecutive years of decline. This means another 39 local authorities need to collect plastic pots, tubs and trays; and 312 for plastic films and flexibles by March 2027 to comply with the government’s target for simplified kerbside recycling, explained Recoup.
Approximately 60% of local authorities say they have an ongoing or continuous citizen communication campaign about plastic packaging recycling – packaging EPR funding needs to strengthen the resources to delivery these campaigns. The 2024 Survey found there is a comprehensive inconsistency in messaging across the UK, both in the language used and instructions given.
For example, when looking at plastic bottle lids, research highlighted that 40% of local authorities ask for citizens to leave lids on bottles but 13% ask for them to be left off. Roughly 12% listed lids as separate target items, however, did not specify if they should be left on the bottle or not, 5% said that they can be either on or off the bottle, and the remaining 30% do not provide any guidance.
Currently, as revealed by the survey, 54% of local authorities ask for plastic bottles to be flattened or squashed, but with a DRS planned to be implemented in October 2027, it is likely that plastic bottles shouldn’t be presented in this way in a deposit return system.
The biggest common message is 85% specifying that items should be empty, rinsed and/or washed, with 53% asking for items to be disposed of loose and not bagged.
Steve Morgan, head of policy and infrastructure at Recoup, said, ‘Whereas the different instructions need to reflect local sorting and processing requirements, it’s in the benefits of consumers and all stakeholders to have simple, consistent national communications messages about how to present plastics for recycling. Packaging EPR and Deposit Return Schemes, through their respective Scheme Administrator and Deposit Management Organisation leadership, should build on the requirements of Simpler Recycling and provide the foundations and influence to enable one unified core set of messages about how to recycle.’
