UK bottle recycling rate rises to 48.5%, says BPF

According to the latest UK Household Plastics Packaging Collection Survey produced by the British Plastics Federation (BPF) Recycling Group member Recoup, bottle recycling rate has reached 48.5% in the UK.

It is a 2.5% increase as compared to the previous report. The absolute volume of plastic bottles collected for recycling was over 281,000 tons.

In addition, non-bottle plastics collected for recycling has more than doubled to 76,300 tons.

Ten years ago, UK's plastic bottle collection rate was 3% and there were virtually no non-bottle plastic collection activities.

Now, the 21.7 million households in the UK are now receiving a plastic bottle kerbside collection. The number of bring collection points has also more than trebled.

The Recoup survey data also suggested that bottle collection rates over the next five years will struggle to meet the burgeoning demand for material, while the non-bottle collection rates will increase significantly, requiring urgent investment in sorting infrastructure, and further development of sustainable and auditable end markets for this fraction.

The full report is due to be released in early November.