Last week’s poll: improving plastics recycling

A small proportion of waste plastic food packaging is recyclable, prompting the Local Government Association to challenge manufacturers to rectify the situation.

LGA says that 525,000 tonnes of plastic pots, tubs and trays are used by households a year, but just 169,145 tonnes of this waste is recyclable. Consequently, LGA is calling for manufacturers to work with councils to develop a plan to stop unrecyclable food packaging from entering the environment.

Problematic packaging comes in many forms, including those plastics made from complex mixtures of polymers, and black plastic ready meal trays that cannot be identified by the optical scanners used in sorting.

Local authorities require households to sort their recycling into a variety of containers prior to refuse collection, leading us to canvas your opinions on the most effective measure to improve the proportion of recyclable plastic reaching supermarket shelves.

Of the 542 respondents, 36 per cent thought that manufacturers should be penalised for producing non-recyclable packaging. Just over a quarter (27 per cent) agreed that better processes should be in place for recycling more plastics, and 17 per cent believe that plastics manufacturers should be incentivised to improve recyclability. Of the remaining fifth of the vote, 13 per cent believe the use of recyclable packing should be incentivised, and seven per cent opted for ‘none of the above’.