£1B investment in recycling would end UK plastic exports, research shows

Circular economy

United Kingdom – The amount of plastic packaging ending up in household recycling bins is expected to rise by 45 percent by 2035, according to recent independent research carried out by global sustainability activator Anthesis and commissioned by Viridor.

The UK exports 0.5Mt of waste plastic each year for recycling due to a lack of adequate recycling infrastructure. By 2035, this infrastructure gap will be 1Mt per year for sorting and 0.645Mt per year for reprocessing plastic, increasing waste plastic exports and taking valuable resources out of the UK economy without additional investment.

According to the study Bridging the Gap: Ending the UK’s Dependence on Plastic Waste Export, converting all of this waste into raw materials domestically would represent a £1 billion investment opportunity for the construction of new plastics sorting and reprocessing facilities. This investment could result in the construction of 46 additional industrial facilities throughout the UK, the creation of 1,100 permanent skilled green jobs and an additional 975 in the supply chain, as well as over £3 billion in economic benefits over a 25-year period.

Investment would help all regions of the UK by creating new jobs and boosting the economy, and it would also support the government’s Levelling Up agenda. With an opportunity for £400 million in investment across 15 facilities, 420 jobs would be created, and over a 25-year period, the North West would particularly benefit.

Recycling rates boost

The research by Anthesis found significant interest in the recycling sector, as well as significant barriers to investment, through one-on-one interviews. The investment case for new recycling facilities has been undermined by a number of risks, including price volatility on markets for recycled plastics and short-term contracts in the recycling industry.

To generate the consistent revenues required to deliver multimillion pound investments, long-term contracts of at least 10 years are required. Currently, the average contract length in the sector is only 3-5 years.

Only 54% (1.3Mt) of the approximately 2.3Mt of plastic packaging currently in use in the UK is collected for recycling. According to the study, the annual amount of plastic packaging collected for recycling is anticipated to rise by up to 45 percent by 2035, to 1.8–1.9Mt. Policy changes intended to boost stagnant recycling rates will be the driving force behind this increase.

The Avonmouth plastics reprocessing facility of Viridor was formally inaugurated in March 2022. More than 1.6 billion plastic bottles, tubs, and trays can be processed each year at 80,000 tonnes of plastic processing capacity. Viridor will be able to recycle more than 90% of the plastics it previously exported from the UK thanks to the plant.

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