British Plastic Federation

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BPF Recycling Group Position Statement on Material Quality

The BPF Recycling Group firmly supports current initiatives to increase the volume of plastics recycled in the UK but recognises that these set challenging targets for the industry. Furthermore, the Group believes that the recycling effort should be spread equally between the ‘Domestic’ and ‘Commercial and Industrial’ waste sectors.
Pivotal to the successful recycling of plastics, both within the UK and abroad, is the manner in which plastic is presented to the recycling sector. In keeping with the Waste Hierarchy, therefore, the BPF Recycling Group believes that end of life plastics should be collected in a manner that enables maximum recycling. The more plastic waste is allowed to become dirty and cross contaminated the more difficult and costly it becomes to recycle. Once costs associated with the necessary separation and cleaning processes begin to outweigh the value of the output, recycling solutions for plastic may cease to be sustainable.
Accordingly, the BPF Recycling Group promotes collection methodologies for waste plastics that deliver sustainable raw material streams to plastics recyclers, ones where the virtues of quality and value outweigh that of sheer volume and underpin long term sustainable jobs within a vibrant UK Plastics Recycling Sector.