WRAP report indicates more bag recycling and less bag used

A fall in the use of disposable plastic carrier bags and a rise in demand for recycled plastics have been reported by government-funded recycling adviser WRAP.

The latest market situation report (Realising the value of recovered plastics - an update) on plastics identifies the key developments in the UK markets for recovered plastic since 2007 and tracks trends in collections, existing and planned domestic reprocessing capacity, export markets, prices and legislative issues. Among its conclusions are that there is increased UK demand for food-grade recovered polymers, and in some cases, demand is outstripping supply. WRAP says this is a market opportunity which could support greater investment in UK reprocessing infrastructure.

In particular WRAP draws attention to the recycling of non-bottle household plastic packaging - 'mixed plastics'. The first WRAP-funded mixed plastics reprocessing facility will open in 2011, and WRAP says the trend to recycle more plastics seems set to continue. To this end it recently launched a £2 million Mixed Plastics Loan Facility to spur further growth in capacity.

Investment in mixed plastics recycling is more than greenly cosmetic, and WRAP says there could be significant economic benefits. Previous research has suggested that the recovered plastics market has a potential value of £250 - £500 million. Coupled with this are benefits in terms of new 'green' jobs.

In absolute terms a total of 10﹞9 billion bags were used in 2006. That number has since decreased by 4﹞5 billion to 6﹞5 billion per year in 2009/10, reducing the amount of material used in bags by 39,700 tonnes per year. Within that overall reduction, the number of single-use carrier bags has been reduced by 43 per cent. This is a reduction of 4﹞6 billion single-use bags per year (45,800 tonnes per year), and compares to a 37 per cent reduction recorded in 2008/9.

While the number of bags in use has continued to reduce, the goods they carry have increased, and WRAP says that there was a 6﹞3 per cent sales growth by supermarkets in the scheme between 2006 and 2009 with the number of items sold increasing from 48﹞5 billion to 51﹞5 billion.