Plastics recycling in the UK is to be considerably expanded in the next few years. The aim is to raise the recycling rate to 42% by 2017, which means almost doubling the current figure. Currently, following significant expansion of the collection systems in the last ten years, over 40% of plastics bottles are recycled, but with other containers and film, the rate is still below 5%, according to Roger Baynham from the British Plastics Federation (BPF, London / UK; www.bpf.co.uk).

The British Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP, Banbury / UK; www.wrap.org.uk) estimates around 2.5m t of plastics packaging comes onto the British market annually. In 2012, some 644,000 t of this figure was recycled, which was little more than 25%. The British industry experts are agreed that expansion of intelligent monitoring and communication systems for households as well as for trade and industry is urgently needed. They also doubt that the present system of packaging disposal can bring any major progress with plastics recycling.

As in Germany, producers in the UK are responsible for the recycling of packaging. The companies buy recycling certificates, or “packaging recovery notes” (PRN/PERN). They are issued by certified reprocessors or exporters and correspond to the volume of packaging waste destined for material recycling. The money earned is intended to help expand the collecting and recycling system, but tends to end up with the dealers and sorters. The value of a certificate is dependent on the type of plastic and the supply and demand. It also aims to subsidise the recycling of plastics in cases where the market price does not cover the recycling costs. If recycling rates are not reached, the price of the PRNs goes up.

Baynham's criticism of the system is levelled mainly at the fact that the focus is on quantity rather than quality, which has led to export being regarded as the easy option to escape from the system. In 2010, around 736,000 t of plastic waste was exported from the UK to China.

Barry Turner from the UK's Packaging and Films Association (PAFA, Nottingham; www.pafa.org.uk) also sees room for improvement. Waste collection, he says, must be coordinated more strictly to recycling targets, exports must be better regulated and demand for secondary plastics should be stimulated.

Yet, on one point, all the experts are in agreement: namely that greater importance be attached to quality. Focusing on quality, they say, is not only connected with the targeted recycling rate of 42%, but also with the declining tolerance of Asian markets to inferior quality. Furthermore, said Baynham, inadequate material quality has basically led to a situation in which the business models of British recyclers do not add up due to higher costs. To achieve the recycling targets and move closer towards a "green economy", investment in the British recycling sector is absolutely essential.