04 June 2008 Plastic bottle recycling rate hits 35% in UK
Plastic bottle recycling rate hits 35% in UK Over the space of a year UK consumers have increased their recycling of plastic bottles by a whopping 68% in 2007, according to new research. The Annual Local Authorities Plastics Collection Survey indicated that UK collections in 2007 were 181,997 tonnes, up from 108,453 tonnes in 2006. The amount of bottles collected was 35% of the 525,300 estimated to have been used by UK households. This collection rate was a large increase over the 20% rate in 2006. In the survey, it is forecast that if the bottle collection rate continues the same upward trend it will increase to 50% in 2008. By 2009 the survey, carried out by Valpak and Recoup and funded by Wrap, predicted that this will hit 71%, after which the potential growth rate will slow. Paul Davidson, plastics technology manager at Wrap, said: "This survey has shown a significant increase in collection rates. "Local authorities must be congratulated on developing their schemes to make them more accessible to residents through additional bring sites and more effective kerbside collections." The good growth rate in 2007 is attributed to greater efficiency and growing awareness of bottle recycling as collection schemes have been started around the country. In 2007, 92% of all UK local authorities offered plastic bottle recycling. Between 2006 and 2007, there was a 22% increase in bring sites with 7,750 banks across the UK collecting plastic bottles and an anticipated growth to 9,142 sites by 2009. There was also a rise in kerbside collections, with 14.4m households able to use such a service in 2007 compared with 13.9m in 2006. The survey also found that 10,857 tonnes of other household plastics were collected in 2007. Davidson added: "The figure for collecting other household plastics is also encouraging but additional work needs to be completed in this area to support local authorities who are involved in or keen to develop their mixed plastics collection." Wrap is holding a seminar on mixed plastics recycling in London tomorrow. Article by David Eldridge, www.prw.com - Plastic Industry News For the full news article and to be taken to the website, click here | 
