The plastic sorting challenge
Before we can recycle many plastics, they must be sorted into separate streams. Angeli Mehta finds out how
How do we stop plastics becoming waste? In the UK, recycling has flatlined in recent years, but rates are expected to be boosted by new government measures to make producers of packaging responsible for anything they put on the market, together with a tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content and a deposit return scheme for single-use drinks bottles and cups. Across the EU, the aim is that by 2030 all plastic packaging should be able to be economically recycled or re-used. On top of those new targets, China’s ban on taking our waste means our sorting and recycling needs to be done at home. Recycled plastic should be a strategically valuable commodity, especially in Europe where oil has to be imported.
But to be recycled, plastics have to be sorted. It may not be the most glamorous aspect of the supply chain, but its role is crucial. Sorting to a high degree of purity means polymers can be re-used and retain their value.