The news from BIR, the international bureau for recycling, that recycled plastic prices are “under pressure” simply reinforces the opinion in the introductory text that plastic recycling is generally speaking (so far) a failed enterprise. See here. Meanwhile the UK’s Recycling Technologies, the great hope of the UK’s plastic recyclers, has been formally dissolved. See [...]
Wales has opened another consultation, this one on the sale and use of wet wipes. We have until 25th November to reply. See here.
The Government has announced the extension of the Green Gas Support Scheme for biogas through to 2028, giving welcome certainty to the sector. Bio4Tech have published a review on the potential of biogas for the UK here. We hope this opportunity of growth is also the chance to ensure that taxpayers’ money is spent not [...]
Lego announced they are dropping the use of recycled PET bottles to make the billions of bricks sold each year but in their announcement was an interesting element – they are looking at increasing the share of biobased plastics to reduce their GHG footprint. See more here.
DEFRA has published its first guidance on what it means by ‘Simpler Recycling’. You can see it here. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for the publication of the effective implementation tools that are required to put the policies into place. In the last DEFRA meeting Jen attended, DEFRA promised these ‘soon’.
CIWM have launched a new platform called The World Beyond Waste which you can find here. A series of interviews over several episodes will explore the policy and economic challenges of the waste industry in this ‘pivotal’ moment of transformation.
In a somewhat unexpected move, a new coalition has been formed to promote home composting. Behind the coalition is Trewin Restorick, who said: “The introduction of mandatory food collections is welcome but it’s a waste of time if there is no clear plan from government as to what will happen with the waste collected. Radical [...]
Guidance on the Single Use Plastic ban is available on the DEFRA website and we strongly recommend all businesses to study it and adhere to the guidelines because they will be enforced (there will be fines). You can find the information from DEFRA here.
New guidance for businesses from DEFRA regarding the reporting on packaging volumes for the purposes of EPR calculations. DEFRA has said that, as EPR has been delayed until 2025, ‘no legal enforcements will be taken as long as data, as per the regulations, is submitted by 31 May 2024 for businesses registered in England and [...]
The Wall Street Journal recently reported on how bio-based plastics are becoming increasingly mainstream as companies attempt to reduce the impacts of the plastics they use. It is an encouraging piece, although possibly not yet relevant to the UK where we are still a few years behind the American curve.