Plastic packaging use and plastic packaging assortment portions have dropped for the primary time in RECOUP’s annual UK Family Plastic Packaging Assortment Survey.

The plastic useful resource effectivity and recycling charity stated there was an estimated discount of round 70,000 tonnes within the amount of family plastic packaging positioned in the marketplace within the UK, with portions collected by native authorities on the kerbside additionally lowering by practically 30,000 tonnes. Each have lowered by round 5%. There has additionally been a plateau within the growth of kerbside provision, as all UK native authorities have collected plastic bottles for recycling on the kerbside since 2019, however solely 88% acquire plastic pots, tubs, and trays, the identical as in 2021, and plastic movies and flexibles dropping from 13% to 12%, the sixth yr in a row this has decreased.

This quantities to a group fee of 42% for all family plastic packaging – 63% for plastic bottles, 39% for plastic pots, tubs, and trays, and seven% for plastic movies and flexibles. The UK’s general recycling fee for plastic packaging from family and industrial sources is 52%.

With Less complicated Recycling introduced in October, and dates communicated with reference to Prolonged Producer Duty (EPR) and Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) throughout the UK, native authorities can now begin to plan how they will sort out the adjustments wanted, though funds to allow this from the brand new packaging Prolonged Producer Duty are but to be totally established.

Coverage alone might not unpick a number of the complexities native authorities have with their assortment contracts and infrastructure, however to keep away from an additional slide or stagnation in family plastic collections, efforts should be made sooner reasonably than later, notably with recycling targets on account of improve.

This yr’s Survey discovered that while native authorities are making important efforts to speak recycling specification to residents, extra useful resource and focus is required on plastic packaging citizen communications and behavior change programmes.

RECOUP can also be launching its UK Citizen Plastics Recycling Behaviours Insights Survey 2023 which signifies an annual drop of seven% nationally of residents claiming to recycle plastics drinks bottles each time, to 88%. Even if residents are likely to overclaim precise behaviours this displays a worrying development. Nonetheless, the place Pledge2Recycle Plastics has been partnering with Durham County Council to ship citizen and neighborhood engagement on plastics recycling, people declaring to recycle drinks bottles each time rose by 2%, to 97%.

Anne Hitch, Enterprise and Undertaking Growth Lead at RECOUP, commented:
“While we proceed to attend for supporting laws, residents stay unsure about what to recycle by way of plastics and the way. 32% of all respondents to the Insights Survey declared that when they don’t recycle an merchandise it’s as a result of they’re confused about whether it is recyclable.

“If we’re to achieve floor by way of kerbside tonnages and high quality of plastics, it’s essential that funding in plastics recycling communications is given precedence”.

57% of native authorities conduct ongoing waste and recycling communication campaigns, and an additional 23% within the final 12 months. Vital inconsistency stays in messaging, together with round asking for lids to be on or off bottles, packaging to be empty, rinsed, washed, flattened, or squashed.

The necessity for good communications is backed up by a small improve in reject charges, which had been as much as 37% for one native authority, and a median of 14% throughout all respondents.

Tom McBeth, Coverage & Infrastructure Supervisor at RECOUP, commented:
“This yr’s Survey has proven the discount in packaging positioned in the marketplace.

“While the collected materials additionally dropped, within the context of the quantity of fabric used, it exhibits an image of stagnation in assortment ranges with service provision additionally remaining just like the 2022 Survey.

“With the information of Less complicated Recycling starting to come back into pressure in England from 2025, and a few degree of certainty in dates for materials assortment necessities, DRS and EPR, it will be important that native authorities at the moment are in a position to perceive the funding they should drive the gathering of extra plastic packaging from shoppers”.

The RECOUP UK Family Plastic Packaging Assortment Survey 2023 is offered for RECOUP members to obtain from its web site.