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"Open For Business: Lessons Learned from Lockdown and The First Week of Trading" webinar today at 5:00pm
Let’s spread a little RHS Chelsea cheer on #FloralFriday
Grow your sales with Evergreen Garden Care’s GYO best-sellers
Garden Centres back on the right track - UPDATED - New comment from Barton Grange, Newbank, Langlands and Green Pastures
Making garden centres friendly, safe and accessible again
Northern Ireland garden centres re-open with record sales - UPDATED
Bump Up Your Colour Pot Sales
Massive increase in demand for VegTrug
LifestyleGarden® thanks keyworkers with special giveaway
CSY launch Ecommerce Sites to help Garden Centres during the Covid-19 Panademic
The UK’s Infrastructure Capacity to Reprocess Post-Consumer Plastic Needs to Double by 2022 to Meet Plastic Packaging Tax Demands
A cut above on ground below
Gro-along Evergreen Garden Care launches virtual gardening series with David Domoney
Primeur continues to support retailers as the industry emerges from lockdown
GIMA welcomes government-backed trade credit insurance guarantee
GrowNation Secures Free Social Distancing Help and Advice for Garden Centres
Reopening your retail store: Step two – sanitation & portable hand washing/sanitisation stations
It’s a #FloralFriday thanks from Greenfingers Charity
Orderly queues form as garden centres in England re-open
Get your own copy of GTN Xtra
Smart Face Masks
Solex Exhibition – Cancelled
The Commercial Horticultural Association is supporting and promoting its existing British exhibitor group for GreenTech and preparing for the rescheduled show on 20-22 October
RHS Chelsea Garden Product of the Year to be judged during Virtual RHS Chelsea
Safe Trading Guidance for all garden centres published by HTA
The best of last week's
Green light for garden centres to re-open on Wednesday in England - UPDATED - Comment from James Barnes at HTA and Alan Titchmarsh MBE
St Peters staff in tears after council serves Prohibition Notice
Wales - Monday, England - Wednesday or June 1st?, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Getting ready for business - feedback from Coolings, Planters, The Gardens Group, Blue Diamond, Green Pastures, Fron Goch and more
“Stay Alert” - make sure your customers and staff have a safe and enjoyable garden centre experience
Garden Centre Photo Tours
Haskins Snowhill re-opens after £15m re-vamp
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Greenhouses used in trial of "Covid-safe" dining
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The UK’s Infrastructure Capacity to Reprocess Post-Consumer Plastic Needs to Double by 2022 to Meet Plastic Packaging Tax Demands

The UK could be set to face significant challenges in its ability to recycle household plastic packaging, with reprocessing infrastructure potentially needing to double, according to new research by RECOUP.

 

RECOUP has released an update of its Household Plastic Packaging Sorting and Infrastructure Report, which aims to inform and provide context around the design of a new tax on the production and import of all plastic packaging that doesn’t include at least 30% recycled content.

 

The report highlights how the UK’s infrastructure to sort plastic packaging to the required quality and reprocess this material needs to increase in order to handle the additional demands created by both the recycled content target and also to service ambitious commitments by brand leaders to increase circular and environmentally sustainable manufacturing.

 

With Her Majesty’s Treasury set to implement the Plastic Packaging Tax, which is currently in its second round of consultations, in April 2022, there is a level of urgency to understand the impact of this and how this recycled content target can be achieved.

 

Currently, RECOUP report that sorting capacities at Material Recycling Facilities (MRFs) and Plastic Recovery Facilities (PRFs), by volume at least, is not a barrier to meeting a 30% recycled content target. The UK has an estimated annual permitted MRF capacity of between 1.6 and 1.9 million tonnes for sorting plastic packaging, and an estimated actual throughput of up to 1,000,000 tonnes.

 

However, research found there are significant shortfalls in reprocessing capacity, with an estimated current operational output of 230,000 tonnes. There are also particularly challenging commercial conditions and fine profit margins in this sector, with very specific operational and technical challenges around reprocessing plastic film, non-bottle PET and food grade packaging.

 

Scenarios detailed in the report show the extent of which capacities may be unable to cope with specific changes and requirements. When comparing the reprocessing capacity against 30% recycled content from plastic packaging types placed on the market, there are significant shortfalls. These scenarios suggest that the UK’s reprocessing capacity may need to increase by 100% to meet 30% recycled content in all household plastic packaging placed on the market, and by over 200% to meet that target for food grade rigid household plastic packaging.

 

Steve Morgan, Policy & Infrastructure Manager at RECOUP, said: “The research conducted by RECOUP in producing the Infrastructure Report highlights the need for the UK to shift towards more domestic recycling in the UK, in order for the industry to be able to cope with the increasing demands for high-quality recycled plastic. Reforming and delivering a well-designed Packaging Producer Responsibility System in the UK is essential to deliver the infrastructure to meet a recycled content target. This would provide the underpinning foundations to ensure the necessary investment and confidence are in place for a sustainable business model to build and maintain the required recycling infrastructure for plastic packaging.”

 

The 2020 RECOUP Household Plastic Packaging Sorting and Infrastructure Report is available to all RECOUP members through the RECOUP website.

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