WRAP said its long-term goal is to see mixed plastics recycling capacity established and maintained purely by the private sector, and it claims its Mixed Plastics Loan Fund, worth £2m, will boost the involvement of this sector in this segment of packaging recycling.
There is currently very little recycling of mixed plastic in the UK as the capacity to reprocess it is limited.
According to the agency, mixed plastics represent at least seven per cent of the domestic waste bin by weight, with around 86 kilos thrown out per household per year in the UK and the vast majority of the yoghurt containers, meat trays and magarine tubs, ending up in landfill.
And due to the number of polymer types contained within mixed plastics, such as polypropylene and polystyrene, there had been a perception that the cost of recycling them is high and that it is not economically viable.
But research launched last summer demonstrated the commercial and technical viability of recycling and re-processing non-bottle household plastic packaging, in addition to the environmental benefits, said WRAP.
But the UK agency claims traditional financing sources for mixed plastics packaging recovery schemes are difficult to secure due to its emerging nature.
“A reduction in available capital brought on by the current economic climate together with recent market price volatility in recovered materials has meant that the risk-reward balance is still a barrier to private sector investment in mixed plastics recycling in the UK,” said Marcus Gover, WRAP’s director of market development.
He maintains that by setting up this loan initiative, as opposed to offering a capital grant, investors can pay back the money after they start making a profit and “WRAP can re-invest those funds into more support for the mixed plastics market.”
Plastic industry bodies say that an integrated approach from local authorities, the recycling sector, waste management companies, investors, retailers and packaging companies is needed to increase the amount of recovery of mixed plastics.
Earlier this year, the Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) told this site that the potential for recycling plastics had been “largely ignored”, leading the sector being targeted by the green lobby.
“The technology to recycle plastics and recover its value has been around for a long time but by chasing recycling targets by weight, the inherently lightweight plastic packaging has been ignored,” added PAFA chief executive designate Turner. “Now is the time to recognise plastics for their real worth as part of the environmental solution rather than a problem.”
PAFA has called for the introduction of consistent collection systems around the UK in order to dispel public confusion over what containers can be recycled.
“Once we have consistency in collection, we are on the way to a ‘joined-up’ waste management system in the UK,” said Turner.
WRAP’s 2008-11 business plan contains a target to deliver 40,000 tonnes of mixed plastics recycling capacity in the UK by 2011.
And in February, the agency awarded a capital grant of £1.2m to recycling firm Greenstar WES, which it said is now commissioning infrastructure for the UK’s first mixed plastics reprocessing plant with the aim of delivering 20,000 tonnes of mixed plastics reprocessing capacity. Greenstar said its goal is to be processing this material by March next year.