The country managed to secure another recycling milestone under its belt when they recently recycled about 517394 tonnes of plastics successfully in the year 2011. The statistics were reported from the annual survey of the BPF, or British Plastic Federation. The report added that over 100 000 tonnes of recycled plastics were also exported.
The amount of exported recycling plastics was only icing on the cake for the BPF. The main focus of success was the 517 000 tonnes of plastic that managed to be recycled. The success was especially significant as it was the first time ever that the members were able to break and get past the half-million-tonne barrier.
However, British Plastic Federation Chairman Roger Baynhan was quick to note that there is still a lot of work to be done. The increased recycling targets mandated by the government continues to be a challenge. Setting the fantastic results aside, there is still a great need to develop a reliable route map that nips the country’s over-reliance of plastic waste to various export countries.
Some of the recycling statistics that were reported are as follows: The demolition and construction sector gave the most raw material to the recycler with about 312 106 tonnes or 23 percent. Next came the end-of-life vehicle department which submitted around 302 061 tonnes, making up for 22 percent of the entire number. Other notable contributions to recycling were packaging from post consumer households, most especially bottles.
Household waste, notably glass and plastic bottles were calculated to be about 253 720 tonnes in weight, or about 18.5%. Lastly, electrical and electronic equipment waste also made a significant impact at 130 739 tonnes, contributing 9.5% to the overall figure.
The data for the latest survey were based on the member’s submitted data. It was estimated that about 25 of the 40 organizations that were part of the organisation submitted data to be analysed.