Collections of household waste for recycling in the UK rose sharply in the three months to the end of June this year, despite the country’s recycling infrastructure facing significant challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic. According to recycling organisation Recoup (Peterborough, UK / www.recoup.org), while there were variations, local councils across the UK overall reported an average increase of almost 30% of both recycling and general waste collected from households through kerbside collection schemes, compared with the earlier stages of the pandemic lockdown.

Recoup said that while this was offset by the widespread closures of household waste recycling centres and a reduction of business waste collection quantities due to the coronavirus, the majority of local authorities had provided services to households that had “mostly been business as usual”.

The pandemic has caused a major drop in both oil and packaging recovery note prices, Recoup said, making virgin plastic more attractive and economically viable to packaging producers, creating a shift in product and packaging demands, and creating logistical challenges such as staff shortages and site closures.

“With HM Treasury continuing with plans to implement the Plastic Packaging Tax in April 2022, there is a level of urgency to understand the impact of this and how [its] recycled content target can be achieved,” Recoup added. The UK government intends to bring in a tax on plastic packaging that doesn’t include 30% recycled material (see Plasteurope.com of 26.05.2020).

Earlier this year, researchers from the University of Leeds and the Brunel University London called for serious reforms of England's recycling capabilities (see Plasteurope.com of 11.06.2020).