The group has said that current proposals “threaten the quality” of recovered materials.
The proposals aim to standardise recycling collections across homes, workplaces and schools by mandating collections for seven streams of waste. Councils will be allowed to collect plastic, metal, glass, paper and card in one bin in all circumstances.
CPI, British Glass and ACE UK has warned that the proposal could result in “huge quantities” of reject materials that cannot be recycled into new products.
The group feels that the proposals will also lead to significantly increased reprocessing costs for waste processors and reprocessors – causing disinvestment in recycling infrastructure.
The trade associations are calling for separate collections of paper/card and glass, with liquid cartons collected with plastics and metals. Separate collections will reportedly strengthen the value of the material collected, whilst driving up recycling quality.
‘More complex and less efficient’
Andrew Large, director general at the Confederation of Paper Industries, said: “Separate collections underpin some of the most successful recycling systems in Europe, including Labour-run Wales – where 87% of card is collected for recycling. To achieve a net-zero economy, we urge the Defra secretary to halt the Simpler Recycling proposals they inherited from their predecessors until they meet the new government’s circular economy ambitions.”
Dave Dalton, chief executive of British Glass, added: “British Glass supports the ambition of Simpler Recycling to require councils to collect glass at the kerbside, however, the proposals currently allow all dry recyclables to be collected together in one recycling bin. This will make recycling processes more complex and less efficient as more materials are mixed together, particularly paper and card. In turn, this will reduce the quality of glass recycled.”
“Separate glass collections would increase the value of the glass collected, whilst also having a positive impact on the environment by ensuring we use less virgin materials to make new glass products. By doing this, we can move closer to a true circular economy of glass, ensuring that more glass packaging is not only recycled but reprocessed into new glass packaging here in the UK.”
Mandy Kelly, chief executive of The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment, added: “We are strongly supportive of the government’s Simpler Recycling reforms, particularly the inclusion of liquid cartons within the core list of materials for consistent kerbside collections from English households and businesses. However, without further consideration of the way that materials are collected and sorted, we risk the unintended consequence of collecting more fully recyclable materials than ever before, only for more of these materials ending up in residual waste streams at sorting centres.
“The new government has a great opportunity to update and enhance our Simpler Recycling approach with separate collections for paper and card products, delivering upon the promise of a true UK circular economy.”
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