The UK may need to more than double its reprocessing capacity to meet demand created by government plans that packaging products include nearly a third recycled material, according to new research by recycling charity Recoup (Peterborough / UK; www.recoup.org).

The UK government intends to bring in a tax on plastic packaging that doesn’t include 30% recycled material in less than two years’ time – while Recoup argued the current national capacity of between 1.6m t and 1.9m t for sorting plastic packaging was not a barrier to meeting such a target, its research found there were “significant shortfalls” in reprocessing capacity, with an estimated current operational output of just 230,000 t. The charity added that there were 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.”

The government has extended the period for consultation on its tax proposals by three months to 20 August 2020 (see Plasteurope.com of 07.05.2020). It confirmed its plans to slap the tax on plastic packaging back in March, when finance minister Rishi Sunak told parliamentarians it would incentivise the use of recycled plastics in packaging.

Recoup said its research highlighted the extent to which capacities may be unable to cope with changes to the system. “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, the charity’s policy and infrastructure manager, said reform of the “Packaging Producer Responsibility System” in the UK was essential to deliver the infrastructure required 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.” Meanwhile, the British Plastics Federation (London; www.bpf.co.uk) has consistently warned the UK government that unless it invests more in the country’s recycling infrastructure, its tax proposals will not achieve the aim of reducing plastics waste.