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What’s the use of recyclable packaging if we can’t recycle it?
Here’s the crazy notion behind recycling: most packaging materials CAN be recycled—in fact, far more of them than you think.
The problem isn’t the materials themselves but the processes involved, picking out each of the recyclable packaging materials to reconstitute them into something useful.
For example, you can recycle bubble wrap, the bag inside your cereal box, carrier bags, bread bags, foil trays, a lot of plastic drinking straws, most plastic cutlery, and (some) takeaway containers. These are all items we’ve been led to believe aren’t recyclable.
We can hear your arguments from here.
“But the leaflet my local authority sent me about what I can put in my recycling bin at home has a big red cross through all of those items!”
Well, the truth is, it’s not that they can’t be recycled, but your local recycling centre doesn’t have the right technology or facilities to do the job. And that, as we’re sure you’ll agree, is a massive shame and a big disappointment.
We’re not going to point our finger at the local councils. In fact, we praise them for their work, as their recycling technology and processes become capable of dealing with more items all the time and the massive amount of waste we throw away each year. Sadly, the technology in food packaging is also advancing and not always making it easier to dispose of, as we’d wish.
Recyclable food packaging
So then, what you’re already doing (if you are—and we hope you are) is following the rules you’ve been given. You’re playing your part in building a healthier environment, taking care of all of your paper, card, glass, tin, and plastic packaging recycling.
Kerbside recycling
You’re separating your waste into what you throw away and what you put in your home recycling bin:
- Plastic bottles
- Food and drinks cans
- Cardboard boxes and tubes
- Glass bottles and jars
- Plastic food containers
Carrier bag collection points
Many of you will have spotted the carrier bag collection points in your local supermarkets. If you use them to recycle your single-use bags that have reached their end of purpose—if so, you score bonus points.
However, if you didn’t know, you can recycle all the following plastic films there, too:
- Carrier bags
- Bread bags
- Plastic bags inside cereal boxes
- Plastic covers from can and bottle multi-packs
- Plastic wrappers from kitchen and towel roll packs
- Freezer bags
- Magazine bags and wrappers
- Bubble wrap
Yes—bubble wrap! It all boils down to the type of plastic, and more often than not, its packing should be labelled accordingly.
How many of you knew you could recycle the items on that list? Not many, we’re sure, and we’d bet even fewer are actually separating them from the rest of your rubbish and taking them to the supermarkets.
From January 1st 2022 PP films will also be able to be recycled via this method, so this will include bakery, confectionery, snack food (crisps) packs.
The plastic recycling system – plastic resin codes
Specialist recycling plants handle far more materials than the local waste collection facilities. To dictate which materials, in this case, its plastics, each material is governed by a number-based code.
There are 7 plastic types covered in the ‘resin code’. The first section shows those you can happily include in your home recycling bin; the second features those typically only recycled by a plant with the appropriate equipment.
Commonly recycled rigid plastics:
- Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) – water bottles and plastic trays
- High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) – milk cartons / bottles
- Polypropylene (PP) – margarine tubs and ready-meal trays
Specialist recycling required plastics:
- Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) – pipes
- Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) – food bags
- Polystyrene (PS) – plastic cutlery
And finally, type 7, which covers all ‘other’ types of plastic.
As you can see, both food bags and plastic cutlery appear on the specialist-recycling list, some of the biggest offenders, as discussed by those in charge. Drinking straws were also a much-debated item, yet are responsible for far less than 1% of the overall issue.
It’s becoming simpler to see just how many of the products we thought weren’t recyclable are. However, adding them to our personal practices will require time-consuming research and extra effort to deliver them to their appropriate locations.
Is education the answer, or do we need a simpler system?
Education is a big part of the answer, but it isn’t as easy as we’d like to think in today’s society. For example, there’s an extensive range of symbols displayed on food packaging, but how many of us know what they mean and which items can safely enter our recycling bins, our dustbins, or the carrier bag collection point?
How many of us are likely to separate the various elements into different boxes or bags, then find the time to go out of our way and deliver them to where they need to be?
Not many would be my guess. Our lives are busy enough; we depend on society’s systems to make them simpler, not more time-consuming, so perhaps it’s the system that needs a shake-up, not how much of it we understand?
On the flip side of this, if we committed to be more environmentally friendly and doing more for the planet should we all take more responsibility and not leave the problem to someone else?
Recycling signs on packaging
There are various logos and labels on our food packaging; some are obvious and others more misleading. That said, there are plenty of packs and packages without any indicators, yet they are often made from 100% recyclable packaging.
The current recyclable icon is a white circular arrow with a heart-shaped head on a green square or rectangular background.
If the item requires rinsing (notably food packaging), it will feature the word rinse.
Additional text can be used to dictate leaving the lid or cap on bottles. The reason being that once removed, they’re often too small to be picked out by the system. If fastened to the bottle, the entire piece is safely collected and recycled.
The same white circular arrow on a black background with a white line striking through it dictates items not to be recycled or that an additional process is required before becoming appropriate; for example, removing a film made of a different material from the main container.
Further instructions
Each label can provide further information making recycling easier for the user. For example, it may show that you can recycle the item at a carrier bag collection point or that it can’t be recycled with your home collection. Many will ask you to check your kerbside collections, as each authority handles different materials in different ways.
Other helpful (or confusing) symbols
What was once considered the standard for recycling: three folded arrows completing a kind of triangle is known as the Mobius loop. It suggests a material can be recycled, but not necessarily in any current collection system.
There are versions of the Mobius loop with the resin code at its centre and the plastic type underneath. This can help keen recyclers understand precisely where the appropriate recycling centre for that product will be.
Another considerably confusing logo is the Green Dot symbol, a circle constructed of two different green intersecting semi-circular arrows. This symbol doesn’t portray an item that can necessarily be recycled, is recyclable, or even has been recycled. What it signifies is that the business or producer made a financial contribution to package recovery and recycling in Europe.
There are symbols for glass, aluminium, and steel recycling, disposing of waste electricals, paper, card and wood, compostable items. Another that has nothing to do with recycling but promotes best litter practices; the well-recognised spiky figure dropping paper into a bin is the logo of the Keep Britain Tidy campaign.
How much food packaging is recycled, and how much is thrown away?
While nobody can guarantee actual figures, it’s accepted that around 10 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the sea, 1 million plastic bags are used every minute, 7 million coffee cups are thrown away each day in the UK, and half of all plastic produced is only used once.
What we do know is that we throw away far more than we have the capacity for. We’re struggling to find enough landfill space, the seas are overloaded with rubbish, and we still don’t have a viable solution.
And it’s no use pointing the finger at the suppliers or the government; we all need to play our part—however big or small. We can all make a difference.
Even recycled paper packaging isn’t as plain-sailing as you’d expect
Simplifying products and processes will help, but consumer demands often go against the grain of what the recyclers need. Take paper and card, for example; you’d think they were the simplest substances to recycle. But considering many paper coffee cups and food packages are typically lined with a plastic or wax coating to prevent them from leaking, it also makes them incredibly difficult to separate and recycle.
Reducing food packaging waste needs to start with recycling, with recycled packaging by UK suppliers made easier for its users to dispose of correctly.
In all this is the carbon footprint of the material too. This needs assessing, as easiness of recyclability but a higher carbon footprint of what it is replacing is defeating the object!
It’s our job to support recyclers, their programs, and the food-packaging producers to become the best recycling team we can be
The answers are all around us. We can each play our part from the top of the ladder to the bottom. Technology is paramount, as are our collection systems, but without a precise understanding of our part in the process, much of their hard work is falling short of the best possible results.
The big question is, do we want to be part of a society that slowly suffocates and kills our planet, its plants, and wildlife—or one that protects it?