The 10 billion bottle problem
Biffa has recently passed the 10 billion HDPE plastic bottles recycled mark. As Managing Director of Biffa Polymers, I am proud of this milestone; it is a success for Biffa, the environment and the UK economy.
So, what’s the problem? Simply put, it is not enough. What Biffa, our customers and partners across supply chains have achieved with a closed-loop solution for HDPE milk bottles – where standardised materials applied in homogenised packaging is collected, processed and recycled into new bottles – is an anomaly. It needs to become the norm. For this to happen big challenges need to be overcome: the UK still exports large amounts of unprocessed plastic waste, not enough is being done to support UK recyclers, and the country is missing a huge economic opportunity.
To celebrate our 10 billion bottle achievement, Biffa commissioned new research to understand these challenges and the opportunities ahead. From a purely economic perspective, the findings are clear. If the UK stopped exporting unprocessed plastic packaging waste by 2030, we could build up to 15 new recycling facilities, attract over £800 million in private investment, and support more than 9,000 jobs. The economic boost would reach almost £900 million every year, all without a penny of public funding.
Access the full report
keeping unprocessed plastic waste in the UK
I reiterate, the government does not need to spend public money to achieve this. It just needs to create the right investment environment. Here are three things the UK recycled plastics market needs to flourish:
- Phasing out exports of unprocessed plastic packaging waste
- strengthening the Plastic Packaging Tax with a clear trajectory for recycled content thresholds and tax rate
- introducing third-party certification for imported recycled plastic to prevent fraud.
These measures would help create the conditions to enable private investment, close the cost gap between virgin and recycled materials, and ensure that more of the value created by recycling stays within the UK.
Beyond economics, we have a responsibility to manage the waste we produce locally. When we export unprocessed plastic waste, we risk being complicit in damaging outcomes. While much of the valuable plastic might be captured, waste that is deemed of no value can be burned or dumped into the environment. Additionally, in some regions, labour standards are far lower and can involve the exploitation of workers, including children, in collecting and sorting material. Managing our plastic onshore means taking ownership of our impact.
Michael Topham's Reality Check
When people experience first-hand, or see on the news, plastic entering the environment and harming wildlife, it is extremely emotive. But it is important to note that plastic is not inherently good or bad. Whether a plastic material is fossil derived or renewably derived, synthetic or naturally occurring, there are good and bad ways to design it, to use it and to dispose of it. As a nation we must continue to focus on reducing the production of virgin plastic, and take responsibility for the plastic waste we create within the UK, increasing the recyclability and reusability of essential applications of plastic within our supply chain.
Plastic performs vital functions in our daily lives. From protecting food through the supply chain and extending shelf life, maintaining hygiene and sterility across healthcare from syringes to IV bags and medical packaging, enabling lightweight transport packaging that cuts fuel use and emissions across global logistics, and supporting affordable, high-volume manufacturing for everyday products that keep essential goods accessible. These are just a handful of examples for which we have no current scalable alternatives, however virgin plastics used in these cases could be replaced with recyclable and reusable options.
Managed correctly, plastic can be integral to the UK’s circular economy. We have demonstrated this by collaborating with organisations throughout the supply chain to create a closed loop that has recycled 10 billion HDPE milk bottles. As chemistry and resource recovery increasingly converge, we can expand this beyond drinks bottles and plastic packaging into more formats and more types of plastic.
The UK can lead this transition, but the government must intervene to level the playing field and provide investment-grade policy, private business to do the rest. The plastic materials we use today will still be with us tomorrow. Our choice is whether they remain a problem or become a resource.
