Call to scrap some packaging plastics

ONLY a third of the plastic in packaging pots and trays for food bought by households can be recycled, local authorities have warned.

Town hall chiefs urged manufacturers to scrap the “smorgasbord” of plastics used to package foods ranging from fruit and vegetables to yoghurts, margarine and microwave meals, to help cut waste and increase recycling.

Analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) suggests 525,000 tonnes of plastic pots, tubs and trays are used by households a year.

Just 169,145 tonnes can be recycled, with two-thirds heading for landfill or incineration.

The LGA said councils had done all they can to tackle plastic waste, with 99% of local authorities collecting plastic bottles for recycling and 77% picking up pots, tubs and trays.

But packaging for food can be made from a variety of polymers, the molecules which make up plastic, which need to be separated out to remove low-grade and non-recyclable types of plastic such as polystyrene.

Some packaging uses different plastics, such as the body and lid of a yoghurt pot, while fruit and vegetables punnets are made from three types of polymer, and microwave meals are cased in black plastic, which cannot be easily sorted.

Manufacturers should work with councils and develop a plan to stop unrecyclable plastic being used; the Government should consider a ban on low-grade plastics; and producers should contribute to the cost of collecting or disposing of the products, the LGA urged.

Judith Blake, LGA environment spokeswoman, said: “It’s time for manufacturers to stop letting a smorgasboard of unrecyclable and damaging plastic flow into our environment.

“We’ve been calling for producers of unrecyclable material to develop a plan to stop this from entering the environment for years.”