Provisional data from the Environment Agency in the UK has predicted an increase of 6.8% in the year-on-year packaging recycling rate in 2016.
This number will exceed the EU-mandated packaging recycling target for the year by almost 500,000 tonnes.
The figures, extrapolated from data recorded between January 2016 and February 2017, show that packaging recycled or recovered in the UK in 2016 will likely reach roughly 8.2 million tonnes.
The total packaging recycling rate is now nearly 65%, with aluminium and plastic seeing the largest gains. Aluminium recycling rose by 18% on 2015, with 51% of the total being recycled. Plastic had reached 45%, with an increase of 14% over the year before.
Total glass recycling was pegged at 67%, after a 10% increase in 2016. Wood recycling had dropped 60% in previous years due to competition from biomass, but is expected to have increased 8% in 2016.
The numbers were lauded by the the Advisory Committee on Packaging, according to packagingnews.co.uk.
A representative said, "The secondary resource industry operates in an extremely competitive global market, so it is not only about collection but it also demonstrates the UK’s ability to compete in these markets and provide the material that the reprocessing industries both here and overseas demand.
This performance also shows the value of the UK’s PRN system in continuing to achieve low cost recycling growth in comparison to many other members of the EU."
The PRN system (or packaging recovery note) is a programme in which producers buy PRNs from accredited reprocessors or exporters as proof they are fulfilling their recycling goals, as set out by government business targets.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Karen Henderson. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
