The UK plastic recycling industry is at breaking point, according to recent news reports, with more than three-quarters of UK plastic waste shipped abroad. In 2022, the country exported over 600,000 tonnes of plastic waste, a 5% increase from the year before. This rise in exports signals the ongoing struggle to effectively manage plastic waste domestically, raising alarms among industry experts about the future of recycling efforts in the UK.
Related plant closures, often in highly publicized and contentious circumstances, have made tensions even worse. Biffa’s Sunderland facility, which previously opened in 2022 at a cost of £7 million, closed after just over a year in February 2023. Viridor also shut its Avonmouth plant in 2022 and Skelmersdale plant in 2023. The company further surprised everyone when it announced that it would be closing its Rochester facility soon. These closures should sound familiar, as they represent a growing trend throughout Europe. As we all know, there’s a recycling plant crisis as recycling plants flounder under increasing operational costs and challenges in getting materials.
At this time of great loss in the field, there have been bright spots for the sector. Enviroo recently secured £58 million to construct a new recycling facility in the north-west of England, aiming to bolster local recycling capabilities. On top of that, Biffa has gotten into the bottle production business with the acquisition of Esterform, a bottle manufacturer that uses lots of recycled PET (polyethylene terephthalate).
Similarly, Ahmed Detta, the CEO and founder of Enviroo, thinks that specializing will help his new company stand out. He very much intends to succeed in an industry full of generalists. He has spoken about the need for an aligned approach across the sector to deliver a genuine circular economy.
“For me, a circular economy is a win-win. Every single person in that journey has to have some benefit, and that’s not working,” – Ahmed Detta
Launched in a Deposit Return Scheme by 1 st October 2027. This forward-looking initiative will significantly improve the quality of recyclable materials and provide long overdue relief for the industry. Experts warn that without timely interventions, the UK may struggle to retain a competitive edge in plastic recycling.
Steve Morgan, head of policy and infrastructure at RECOUP, responds to the current state of play with UK regulations. He contends that current policies have unintentionally tilted the playing field towards overseas markets at the expense of domestic recyclers.
“We are almost witnessing the demise of plastic recycling as we know it, unless we have some interventions. There’s no way a lot of recyclers in the UK can compete,” – Steve Morgan
High energy and labor costs pose substantial challenges for UK recyclers trying to compete with international markets. At present it is more cost effective to source virgin and recycled plastic from Asia than European recycled plastic. This trend has resulted in a significant dependence on mostly Asian facilities for production. Consequently, UK and continental European plant operators are now at tempting crossroads with respect to decisions on their plants.
Buy Virginia Janssens, managing director at Plastics Europe, welcomes the momentum, but conveys alarm about Europe’s prospects as a whole when it comes to plastic recycling. She warns that unless the public and private sectors take bold action quickly, the continent will lose its competitive edge in this vital area.
“Business will go where it makes sense and where it’s cheapest to build. If those big production plans are built somewhere else, with huge investments of billions, they’re not all of a sudden then going to decide to go back and build one in Europe,” – Virginia Janssens
Things are only made worse by brands that still haven’t boarded the train on circularity. In his blog, Mr. Now brands are paying off plastic packaging taxes instead of making products with recycled materials.
“Brands aren’t aligning with the circular economy. They’re saying, ‘why should I buy recycled material when it’s cheaper for me to pay the fine for the plastics packaging tax than actually pay for recycled materials? No one is saying, ‘let’s unite’,” – Ahmed Detta
Despite these obstacles, specialists see a huge possibility for the future with technology helping lead the charge to restore the market to its former splendor. Ian Temperton describes the introduction to a lot of cutting edge technology. He believes the key is going deeper and focusing on root causes to make recycling operations more profitable and sustainable.
“We’re about developing and continuing to enhance the technology that deals with waste plastics. Having partners commit to new investments over the next couple of years is going to be a bit harder, but it’s very clear the market will be very significantly under-supplied against any version of the targets,” – Ian Temperton
The UK government has promised to clean up the UK plastic recycling industry. They are in the process of amending those rules now after a consultation process they underwent earlier this year. Industry stakeholders are counting on these policy interventions to help create a more sustainable, domestic future for plastic recycling in the U.S.