ADVICE & OPINION
PLASTIC ISN’T THE PROBLEM
FMJ AIMS TO SUPPORT TECHNICAL EXPERTISE IN THE FM MARKET
Our infrastructure is, argues Steve Fox, Purchasing Director, Bartlett Mitchell. Why banning the use of plastic
packaging isn’t the answer, having a strategic government policy to enable an integrated recycling infrastructure is
Until we have an e icient UK
wide infrastructure to recycle
our plastic waste within our borders
then we need to find ways to reduce
the volume of waste we generate. It’s
important to note that most plastics
claim to be recyclable. There’s just
one snag; it’s not recyclable until it
has been recycled.
It is said that there is not enough
capacity and insu” icient infrastructure
within the UK to process waste items.
What capability we have to recycle is
provided by private contractors who,
naturally, will only process the waste
if there is demand and the demand is
profitable.
If neither of the above can be met the
plastic will be exported, usually to the
Far East. Here’s where it gets interesting
and ridiculous - a government backed
initiative to ensure our plastic gets
processed for recycling encourages this.
The Packaging Recovery Note or ‘PRN’
is a form of currency in recycling and
payment via the PRN is done by weight.
If a contractor exports a mixed plastic
bail weighting one tonne which, by
default, will contain plastic that can’t be
recycled in the UK, the contractor will
receive payment for 100 per cent (note
that the government will record this
tonne of plastic as being 100 per cent
recycled as it is not going into waste
streams in the UK).
If a contractor were to recycle the same
one tonne of plastic in the UK and 50 per
cent of it can’t be recycled, the contractor
will only be paid for the 50 per cent they
recycle.
To me it’s absurd but government
policy has inadvertently created a
process that enables commercial
enterprises to receive a greater
subsidy by moving plastic abroad than
processing in the UK. It is estimated that
78 million tonnes of plastic are produced
each year worldwide!
Nearly 800k tonnes of plastic scrap
were exported from Britain last year.
16 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019
The items we are sending are so
contaminated and mixed up that we are
o• en just sending rubbish. We are using
other countries with poor environmental
and labour standards as a dumping
ground.
What happens when the shipment
reaches its destination? We don’t know.
However, as it’s well documented that
China has by far been the biggest polluter
of our oceans and most of the UK plastic
waste was exported to China – go figure!
China recently realised that it had
earned the reputation as the world
greatest polluter, so it introduced a ban
on waste plastic imports.
What do we do now? We find someone
else to take it.
Countries such as Bangladesh,
Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are
filling the void le• by China. How robust
are their respective environmental
protection laws? It isn’t clear. What
is clear is that the UK needs to take
responsibility for its own plastic waste
and not make it someone else’s problem.
The most commonly used plastic in
the production food packaging products
is Polyethylene terephthalate (or more
commonly known as PET) which is the
material used to make plastic water
bottles.
It is easy to recycle PET numerous
times but demand for recycled PET
outstrips supply. Why? Because there
isn’t enough recycling going on in UK.
According to some statistics, the
Americans produce 264 lbs of plastic
waste per person per year, the UK 167 lbs
and Sweden 40 lbs.
So why is it so low in Sweden? Because
they have a strategic government
policy to enable an integrated recycling
infrastructure to flourish.
Currently in the UK, there is no
government involvement or support in
the recycling infrastructure. It is in the
hands of the private business where
profit will always be the driver. It has to
be otherwise the business won’t survive.
The value of recycled plastic is
volatile. If we take PET (which is a
bi-product of oil) as an example. In
2008, oil peaked at $144.30 per barrel
and so the cost of virgin PET was
expensive for manufacturers to buy. As
a consequence, the value of recycled
PET was high and recyclers could make
good margin from selling RPET back
to the manufacturers below the cost of
virgin product.
Five months later, it has dropped to
$33.87 (which is when we enjoyed a
significant reduction in petrol prices)
and so the value of recycled product
plummeted as it was cheaper for
manufacturers to buy virgin product
which is what they did. As a result, a
number of businesses ceased trading
and our capacity to recycle reduced
further.
At this point, with an integrated
recycling infrastructure in place
measures could be introduced to
support businesses during tough
market conditions.
We need a subsidy if the price of
recyclable material falls below a certain
price and a payback to the government
if it rises above a certain price. This
way, the recycler is guaranteed a
margin so it’s in their interest to
maximise the volume of product
processed.
Another option is to put a tax on
virgin product so recycled product is
competitive by default.
If there is the will to find a solution
there is usually one out there.
Oil is currently trading at circa $70 .00
per barrel so recycling is commercially
viable – just.
There is a high level of awareness
now amongst the population in
general regarding the use of plastic
packaging. As with all of these things,
there has been some knee jerk reaction
to ban plastic in the work environment
but that is not realistic as there isn’t
a workable commercial non- plastic
solution for all our needs.
So, what can we do? There are some
options for facilities departments out
there:
» Ensure you have visibility of your
waste contractors recycling capability
and that they can maximise the amount
of your plastic waste they recycle.
» Ensure the act of separating the waste
by your teams is signposted with easy to
understand signage.
» Educate your teams about the
importance of recycling by holding
“Environment Days” lunchtime sessions
with guest speakers who can deliver a
clear message.
» Encourage debate amongst your
teams about initiatives they can come
up with to reduce the use of plastics – be
collaborative!
» Encourage your teams to reduce the
amount of plastic they use by o” ering
reusable alternatives.
» Have water stations around the
building so reducing the need for teams
to buy plastic water bottles.
» Don’t provide single use water cups
at the water stations but encourage the
purchase of reusable water bottles by
selling below high street prices.
In conclusion, we don’t need
government threatening to ban plastic
straws / plastic cotton buds or putting a
tax on disposable cups (latte levy) and
then failing to do anything.
We also don’t need politicians to
be seen walking into Downing street
clutching a reusable co” ee cup to
demonstrate they are doing their bit to
save the planet. It’s just not helpful.
We do need a strategic government
policy to enable an integrated recycling
infrastructure throughout the UK that
will drastically reduce (ideally eliminate)
our contribution to the worlds waste
plastic problem.
FAST FACTS