New research from Tap Warehouse has revealed that only half of all bathroom packaging in the UK is recycled, accounting for 30-40 per cent of total landfill waste.
A forthcoming deposit return scheme could save 31,000 plastic bottles from littering Scotland’s streets, according to new figures from Zero Waste Scotland.
Rick Hindley, Executive Director of Alupro, the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation, gets his teeth into the issues surrounding deposit return schemes and their impact on aluminium can recycling.
Defra’s response to the resources and waste consultations confirm that big changes will be on the cards for 2023, with a deposit return scheme, extended producer responsibility regime and consistency of collections all proposed for introduction by then.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced new joint business and government investment in R&D around new forms of packaging made from plants, wood chippings and food waste.
If targets in the Resources and Waste strategy are to be met, the government must provide adequate funding and allow local authorities to develop recycling strategies and collection systems that are appropriate for their communities, says the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
A panel of environmental experts in Scotland has recommended that a 20-25 pence charge should be placed on disposable coffee cups, a policy that the UK Government has previously rejected.
Resources Minister Therese Coffey said that there was “no threat to the sustainability of kerbside collections” from a deposit return scheme as she backed an ‘all-in’ model at an evidence session of Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
Environment Secretary Michael Gove has put his weight behind an ‘all-in’ DRS for drinks containers as part of a speech on the need to act on climate change, pollution and natural degradation.
A majority of the British public wants all food packaging to be made 100 per cent recyclable anywhere in the country, according to a survey commissioned by WRAP and INCPEN.
Consumers in Scotland are spending £600 million on more than 300,000 tonnes of single use packaging for their groceries every year, according to Zero Waste Scotland.
The North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has launched a campaign to encourage parents to dispose of nappies in the general waste bin, after a survey revealed one in 10 parents admitted to throwing used nappies in the household recycling.
Toast Ale, the beer made from discarded bread, is crowdfunding to launch its craft beer in 330-millilitre cans as part of a wider refresh of its brand identity.
Paper coffee cups can have a lower carbon footprint than reusable cups, especially if they are recycled, according to life cycle research commissioned by packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki.
UK charity organisation the British Heart Foundation is to sell pre-owned toys in compostable packaging after teaming up with Direct Packaging and compostable film manufacturer Futamura to reduce its plastic footprint.
Members of the UK Plastics Pact have committed to removing eight problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic items from shelves by the end of 2020 and have identified a further 19 items to take action against by 2025, though campaigners say the industry’s approach is “inadequate”.
The amount of undetectable black packaging coming to market is expected to be cut by 66 per cent by the end of 2019 due to efforts to reduce the amount of black plastic used in packaging and developments in detectable pigments and sorting equipment, says industry report.
