New targets for recycling plastic.
March 25, 2013 at 3:43 PM
Here at H&O we are dedicated to providing our customers with the best possible solutions in terms of our brand new plastic containers, designed and manufactured for every possible use. However we are also interested in the opposite end of the process… the disposal and reuse of plastic itself.
As we have previously reported, the recycling capabilities of plastic has made the material much more appealing in the 21st century. And as plastics are now so easily reusable, the government is pressuring councils into doing more and more to recycle, in order to reach new targets – by 2017 the government wants to see 42% of all plastic recycled. Half a million tonnes of plastic is used annually in domestic products and roughly half - 240,000 tonnes of plastic – is sent to landfill.
Apart from the environmental impact, local government and indeed local business could actually realise financial benefits from recycling – a simple and cost-effective way to save money. The landfill plastic quoted here would amount to approaching £100 million, if it were to be recycled.
Various ideas have been mooted, including a Responsibility Deal with households and businesses, or even incentive schemes that might pay good households with reward points. Meanwhile, the Belgian company Ecover has come up with an intriguing idea. Waste plastic accounts for over half of the litter on our beaches and can also pollute the seas around these isles. Ecover are encouraging fishermen to join a scheme where they will be incentivised to keep the “sea plastic” that they trawl along with the fish that they catch, and leave it at designated collection points.
Again, the potential uses of plastic, both in terms of buckets and pails and the source material itself, continues to amaze and astound. Here, the waste plastic will be reused in the sustainable, recyclable packaging for Ecover’s domestic products, and the fishermen will be doing their bit to clean up the seas!
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