The waste management partnership for Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham borough councils – re3 – will now collect kerbside plastic PTT after finding “new markets to buy and process this type of product effectively”.
And, re3 say it has worked with its contractor FCC Environment to establish agreements that allow all plastic to be recycled in the UK for the time being. However, the partnership said although it is committed to re-processing plastic in the UK, the situation “might change in the future”.
Dorothy Hayes says the measures will be welcomed by re3 residents
Commenting on the change, which was announced earlier this week, Dorothy Hayes, Bracknell Forest’s executive member for environment and chairman of the joint waste disposal board, said she hopes the changes makes recycling easier for residents and will help divert plastic away from landfill.
Cllr Hayes said: “We hope the changes will make recycling easier and less confusing. We estimate that almost 2,000 tonnes of pots, tubs and trays can be collected from the re3 households each year. This will give us potential to divert that amount of plastic from landfill and recycle it into new products such as plastic bottles or clothing.”
Uncertainty
Household plastic pots, tubs, trays, clean foil, foil trays and food or drink cartons are accepted as part of the kerbside recycling collections across the re3 area. This comes at a time of uncertainty for end markets on lower grades of plastic in wake of the Chinese restrictions.
It’s understood the plastic will be sent to a UK reprocessor to make new products domestically, but only for the time being.
It means that items such as fruit or vegetables punnets, ready meal trays (excluding black), yoghurt pots, margarine tubs, cosmetic pots, foil trays used in takeaways or juice cartons can be placed in the recycling container.
The councils will continue to collect paper, cardboard, tins, cans, plastic bottles and aerosols. Black PTT, polystyrene, plant pots and plastic toys and furniture can still not be recycled.
Well received
Liz Terry, Reading Borough Council’s lead councillor for neighbourhoods, explained that the changes come on the back of feedback from residents, and the council is confident the changes will be well received.
She said: “We have listened to our residents and simplified our recycling service as much as possible. Plastic containers, clean foil or food and drink cartons are so commonly used in our households and we are confident these changes will be welcomed. Items that contain left over food and drink cannot be recycled and could ruin the quality of other items.”
Enhancements
In order to facilitate the collection, the partnership said it had made enhancements to the materials recycling facility in Reading to process a wider range of plastics. It later admitted that it previously prioritised plastic bottles, principally for reasons of quality and value for money, but now has the facilities to accommodate PTT.
The re3 partnership was formed in 1999 by Bracknell Forest, Reading and Wokingham borough councils to work together to develop long-term facilities to manage and dispose of waste.
FCC Environment joined the partnership in 2006. They signed a Private Finance Initiative contract with the councils, worth £610 million, to provide new waste management facilities and work with re3 to minimise waste.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
