The government has today confirmed future target rates for packaging recycling up to the end of the decade – with the overall packaging recycling rate required to rise from a current level of close to 65%, up to 75.4% by 2020.
Unveiled as part of the package of measures set out in the 2017 Spring Budget, confirmation of the new targets follows a consultation process which began in December 2016.
Packaging targets have been set for wood, paper, aluminium, steel and recovery up to 2020
For aluminium, a target of 64% will be required to be met by the end of 2020, up from a 2017 level of 55%; for steel an 85% goal has been set, up from 76% in 2017; for paper the target will rise to 75% an increase from 69.5% in 2017; and wood packaging will be subject to a steep rise to 48% by 2020 target, from a current level of 22%.
The recovery target will also rise to 82% by 2020, up from a 79% ambition for 2020, the Treasury has confirmed.
Targets for plastic and glass were outlined in the 2016 budget and include a recycling goal of 57% for plastic up to 2020 and 80% for glass.
Targets
For the remaining materials – paper, aluminium, steel and wood – the government has opted for the highest available targets for all materials as set out in its December consultation.
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Paper | 69.5% | 71%* | 73%* | 75% |
| Aluminium | 55% | 58%* | 61%* | 64% |
| Steel | 76% | 79%* | 82%* | 85% |
| Wood | 22% | 38%* | 43%* | 48% |
| Recovery | 79% | 80%* | 81%* | 82% |
| Total Recycling | 72.7% | 73.6%* | 74.5%* | 75.4% |
* If consistent with figures set out in Defra consultation
This is despite having initially put forward options that included varying approaches for the different materials including one (option 2) suggesting steep rises for paper, wood and steel but a moderate rise for aluminium and another (option 3) indicating a steep rise for aluminium, but moderate increases for steel, paper and wood.
Wood
An increase in the wood recycling target will be of particular interest to packaging producer compliance schemes – with many having offered differing views over the future target rate in response to the consultation (see letsrecycle.com story).
Among them was Valpak, the UK’s largest packaging compliance scheme, which suggested that the wood packaging recycling should rise to 40% by the end of the decade.
The organisation contributed to the Wood Flow report, published in August 2016, which suggested that the figures used to determine existing packaging targets had ‘underestimated’ the amount of wood packaging placed onto the market.
And, recent figures suggest that wood packaging has dropped since 2008, thought to be caused by competition from biomass treatment, although the volume of wood packaging recycled did rise by 8% from 2015 to 2016 (see letsrecycle.com story).
If met the overall target levels would continue to put the UK ahead of the EU’s Circular Economy package proposals which include a target to recycle 75% of packaging by 2030. Currently the EU has a minimum packaging recycling target of 55% by the end of 2020.
Packaging materials, according to Defra, make up about 20% of the household waste stream.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Metal
