Viridor calls for collaboration on plastics recycling in South West

Resource management company Viridor has called on businesses and local authorities across the South West and south Wales to collaborate to give all plastics consumed in the area a recycling solution.

The call was made at the Taunton-based company’s ‘Rubbish to Resource’ event held in Bristol today (27 February), which brought together 150 representatives from local authorities, reprocessors, packaging manufacturers, retailers and NGOs to discuss how all plastic collected in the area can be recycled locally.

Viridor Managing Director Phil Piddington said: “We know that this is a region which is investing in the innovation needed to keep plastic out of the natural environment and put it back in the circular economy where it belongs.”

Viridor has invested £65 million in a new multi-polymer plastic recycling plant in Avonmouth, near Bristol, which will be capable of processing 81,000 tonnes of PET, HDPE and PP plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays per annum after three years from the area and to ensure a steady stream of recycled plastic will be available to manufacturers to include in their plastic products.

Piddington continued: “It is not just about one company, the success of this project lies in collaboration, and this is something which this region can lead on and which can be replicated across the UK and globally.

“If we pool our infrastructure and expertise and, most importantly our will, we can together ensure that plastic does not escape the net. This is how we tackle plastic pollution. It is everyone’s concern and everyone’s responsibility. We want to do our bit and show real leadership.”

Viridor’s approach was welcomed by many at the event, with Peter Maddox, Director of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) saying collaboration was “crucial to tackling plastic pollution”, highlighting WRAP’s work in bringing together industry under the UK Plastics Pact to increase the uptake of recycled plastic as an example of collaboration producing real change.

Maddox said: “Only by bringing the entire supply chain together can we truly transform the way we make, use and dispose of plastic. So, it’s really encouraging to see Viridor driving collaboration on plastics in the South West and south Wales and committing investment for essential new infrastructure.”

Professor Richard Thompson OBE, Head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, also welcomed the work Viridor has done to provide recycling solutions for plastics while advocating collaboration across the board, adding: “There is no single solution to the problems posed by plastic pollution. But the recycling of end of life plastics is a key priority. To help increase the proportion of end of life plastics that are recycled we need to engage people right along the supply chain from the design stage, through use and disposal, to ensure items are effectively recycled at the end of their lifetime.”

Tom Heap, broadcaster and Countryfile presenter, spoke at the event about the changing public attitudes to plastic and the need for an effective solution to problem plastics.

He said: “Public perceptions of plastic have changed dramatically in recent years, even to the extent that misinformation about widely recyclable plastic is having unintended consequences for both resource efficiency and climate change. However, one thing is clear – collaboration is an effective way to keep plastics out of our natural environment and continuing to flow through the circular economy which is what this conference is all about.”