Let’s talk recycled plastic- Enviroo Podcast

Plastic bottles

Let’s talk recycled plastic- Enviroo Podcast

Recently our Sustainability & Marketing Director, Lubna Edwards, joined a podcast with recycling experts Enviroo and Recoup to discuss a variety of interventions to transform the UK recycling system.

Around 60% of recycled plastic packaging is exported due to insufficient mechanisms and infrastructure within the UK.

“There needs to be a transformational change in the entire recycling system, not only nationally, but globally.”- Lubna Edwards

The question is how can we make this happen effectively, at a faster pace, and at a much higher scale?

As Lubna states, “the system for recycling is broken in parts.” It will require everyone across the value chain from manufacturers to retailers to consumers, councils and waste management to play their part.

The discussion questions why is there a significant shortage of high-quality recycled plastic (which comes with a high cost and has to be imported) and yet the UK is producing a lot of low-quality waste which is being exported? Why can’t we invest in our own domestic recycling to produce high-quality recycled plastic and avoid reliance on imports.

A government intervention being consulted on to help combat this is a Deposit Return scheme to encourage consumers to recycle their drinks containers through financial incentives and the communicating the positive impact this could have in reducing waste and litter. This will help to produce high-quality cleaner material that can be put back into the system. But this will not come without its challenges.

Also in this podcast, the challenges and opportunities for the introduction of the UK Plastic Tax in April 2022 are debated and what this could mean for retailers, brands and consumers.

Take a listen, Episode 2