Now Tesco will help us recycle plastic that councils can’t handle

A HI-TECH Tesco scheme to recycle plastic that councils cannot process promises to reduce waste and pollution dramatically.

The supermarket giant is launching the initiative in partnership with British company Recycling Technologies to treat soft plastics, such as bread bags, crisp packets and pet food pouches.

Recycling Technologies, based in Swindon, has developed a process to turn the waste plastic into an oil called Plaxx, which can be used to manufacture new plastic.

The company plans to build 1,300 processing machines to be placed at existing waste sites and recycling centres – doubling the UK’s ability to recycle plastic waste. Currently, Britain’s waste collection and recycling system is broken because local councils operate different schemes, rather than one collection regime.

Many people are confused about what plastics can be recycled in their area.

The net result is that tens of millions of tons of plastic, particularly soft plastics and black plastic trays, are buried in landfill, burned for energy or exported overseas. The Tesco plastics trial begins with the installation of ten collection booths at stores in the Swindon and Bristol areas.

Sarah Bradbury, of Tesco, said: ‘This technology could be the final piece of the jigsaw for the UK plastic recycling industry.’

Currently, 83 per cent of Tesco’s packaging is recyclable. If the new scheme goes nationwide this figure is expected to rise to 90 per cent – an extra 65,000 tons a year.

The Daily Mail has long campaigned against plastic waste with our Turn The Tide On Plastic drive. And more than 524,000 people have volunteered to join the Mail-backed Great British Spring Clean. The anti-litter campaign, organised by Keep Britain Tidy, runs until April 23. You can still sign up at gbspringclean.org