During
Recycle Week (23-29 September) the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) calls
for more local authorities to collect non-black recyclable plant pots from the
kerbside.
HTA
research has found that the recycling of plant pots could result in an
estimated 8,000 tonnes being diverted from landfill and recycled back into
pots.
Speaking
at the RECOUP Plastics Recycling and Resources Conference in Peterborough on 26
September James Clark, HTA Director of Policy and Communications, highlighted
how the UK horticulture industry has come together to move to using non-black
polypropylene kerbside recyclable plant pots. Working with RECOUP the HTA has
completed a Recyclability by Design framework document providing technical
assurance to recyclers that these new pots meet the necessary criteria for
recycling in kerbside collections.
There
is a huge opportunity to recycle more plant pots with clear demand for
polypropylene from UK re-processors. If all kerbside compliant pots sold each
year were collected this could divert an estimated 8,000 tonnes of quality
polypropylene away from landfill and energy from waste and back into the
recycling stream to be made into more pots. With a total of 23,000 tonnes of
polypropylene recycled in the UK in 2016 (WRAP) the recycling of plant pots is
set to contribute a significant proportion. A number of local authorities
already collect recyclable plant pots highlighting that it is possible -
especially given that they are made from a valuable material with an end
market.
James
Clark comments, “Gardeners are environmentally conscious, concerned about using
materials sustainably and expect the garden industry to do the right thing. The
industry has made huge developments over the past year in introducing non-black
kerbside recyclable plant pots. We will be stepping up our campaign activity
and want to work with the waste and recycling industry to progress this
initiative. There is no better time to do so given that the evidence is clear
that non-black plant pots are recyclable, particularly with the launch of the
Recyclability by Design document.”
The
RECOUP Conference attracts over 500 delegates comprising stakeholders, NGO’s,
Local and National Government and companies with business interests within
plastics recycling to network and share best practice. The conference was
chaired by Tom Heap, BBC Countryfile and BBC Radio 4 'Costing the Earth'.
James
Clark took part in a session titled ‘The growing issue of farm and
horticultural plastics’, which also involved representatives from Berry BPI
Group, The Co-op, IFFPG/EPRO Agriculture Working Group and the Environment
Agency.
