Plastics

• Background
• Recycling your waste plastic
• Buying recycled products
• Legislation
• Know your plastic - symbols & uses
• Further information and contacts
• Plastic recycling directory
• Further technical information on the recycling process

Background

Most plastics are made from non-renewable resources, and most are not biodegradable.  They are inclined to be bulky and difficult to compress making them less than ideal for disposal in landfill sites and difficult to transport.

There are two main alternatives to sending plastics to landfill:

Recycling - This helps to reduce the amount of resources we use, and it takes less energy to manufacture products using recycled materials. However the sorting, transportation, cleaning and other recycling processes do require energy inputs, and need to be as efficient as possible to maximise the benefits.

Waste to Energy (WTE) Processes - This is the use of plastic as a fuel to generate heat and/or electricity.

To maximise the environmental benefits an integrated waste management strategy should be in place, where recycling is used in combination with WTE processes.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), set up by the Government to promote sustainable waste disposal in the UK, has announced that it intends to double the recycling of plastic drinks bottles by offering financial support to companies to develop processing infrastructure and diverting an additional 20,000 tonnes per year to recycling.

Recycling Your Waste Plastic

Commercial Waste

• Businesses may be able to take waste materials from their own business to a Local Authority operated recycling point if the site accepts commercial waste. All Local Authority recycling points will make a charge for this service.
• Most collectors require post-industrial plastic waste to be baled and palleted for collection, although some may provide a storage container.
• A minimum of 1 tonne is usually required, which can occupy a large area as plastics are lightweight and bulky. One tonne is the equivalent of 200,000 plastic bottles, and takes up approximately 35 cubic metres.  Many small organisations may find that they lack the storage space necessary to allow the plastics to accumulate prior to collection.

Go to Directory of Recycling Companies

Domestic Waste
Each district council in Oxfordshire offers a recycling collection scheme in which post-consumer plastic is one of the materials collected:

• South Oxfordshire - Green box collection scheme (also takes carrier bags).
• Vale of The White Horse - Green box collection scheme.
• West Oxfordshire - Recycling box collection scheme (also takes carrier bags).
• Oxford City Council - Blue box collection scheme.
• Cherwell - Blue box collection scheme.

Post consumer plastic bottles can also be dropped off at community recycling facilities where they are contained in a large skip. These facilities may be used for the recycling of plastic bottles, tubs and pots.

When recycling bottles:

1. Remove brown bottles (these are made from a mixture of plastics).
2. Remove contaminated bottles e.g. lubricating and motor oil bottles, and bottles that have held pesticides, horticultural chemicals and other hazardous chemicals.
3. Hot wash.
4. Remove caps.
5. Squash to minimise their volume, so that more can fit into the collection vehicles.

If a doorstep collection service does not operate in your area, plastic bottles can be dropped off at the recycling collection points listed below. Alternatively you can find your nearest collection point by typing your postcode in at Wastepoint at http://www.wastepoint.co.uk/ or www.recycle-more.co.uk

Oxfordshire's plastic bottle collection points

Vale of White Horse

Area	Recycling Point
Abingdon	Tesco Stores, Marcham road
Abingdon	Peachcroft Centre
Abingdon	Tilsley Park Sports Centre
Abingdon	White Horse Leisure Centre
Faringdon	Gloucester Street Car Park
Faringdon	Leisure Centre
Frilford	Millets Farm
Grove	The Bell
Wantage	Sainsbury Supermarket
Wantage	Leisure Centre

South Oxfordshire

Area	Recycling Point
Benson	Parish Hall car park
Chalgrove	Public car park
Chinnor	Mill Lane car park
Cholsey	Village Hall car park
Didcot	Station Road car park
Didcot	Tesco Supermarket car park
Goring	Station car park
Henley	Kings Road car park
Horspath	Village Hall car park
Nettlebed	School car park
Sonning Common	Behind Gateways Supermarket
Thame	Cattlemarket car park
Wallingford	Cattlemarket car park
Wallington	Public car park
Wheatley	Asda Superstore car park
Woodcote	Village Hall car park

Oxford City

Area	Recycling Point
Jericho	Cardigan Street, Jericho, OX2 6BW
City	Ferry Hinksey Road, OX2 0BY
Summertown	Ferry Leisure Centre, OX2 7DP
Wolvercote	Mill Road, Wolvercote, OX2 8PQ
Nr Wolvercote	Pear Tree Park and Ride, OX2 8JD
Headington	Waitrose Car Park, Old High Street, Headington, OX3 9JT
Cowley	Tesco Car Park, Oxford Retail Park, OX4 6XJ
Cowley	Tesco Car Park, Union Street, OX4 1UT

West Oxfordshire

Area	Recycling Point
Bablock Hythe	Bablock Hythe Caravan Park
Burford	Guildenford car park
Burford	Garden Centre
Carterton	Co-op, Black Bourton Rd
Carterton	Stanmore Crescent
Charlbury	Spendlove Centre car park
Chipping Norton	Albion Street car park
Chipping Norton	Cattlemarket car park
Chipping Norton	New Street car park
Chipping Norton	Football Club, Walterbush Rd
Chipping Norton	Clanfield
Chipping Norton	Marsh Lane car park
Ducklington	Sports Club car park
Eynsham	Back Lane car park
Hardwick	Hardwick Park Caravan Site
Long Hanborough	Reily Close
Standlake	Lincoln Farm Park
Stonesfield	Field Close
Tackley	Village Hall
Witney	Edington Square
Witney	Hailey Rd
Witney	Moorland Rd
Witney	Sainsburys car park
Witney	Woodford Way car park
Woodstock	Hensington Rd car park

Buying Recycled Products

Due to advances in technology it is now possible to use post consumer recycled (PCR) plastics in a wide range of high specification applications including food contact packaging. PCR PET can now compete with PET in applications such as bottles. For example, the Silver Spring Mineral Water Co. uses bottles containing recycled plastics for their 'perfectly clear' range of carbonated drinks.

Post industrial plastics can be reprocessed into high specification products such as plastic reels for fax machines, Black and Decker drills, Flymos grit boxes, hot and cold water tanks, plant pots, buckets and video cassette cases. 

The Buy Recycled Campaign, part of the National Recycling Forum, has a directory of recycled products available in the UK.

Legislation

During the last decade concern over diminishing landfill capacity has resulted in the EU introducing legislation to promote waste reduction. Attention has focussed on packaging because of the short lifetime of the 'product' and the quantities of waste generated.

EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste:  Under the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (94/62/EC) national targets of 20% recycling of plastic packaging waste for 2006 are set.  The level of recycled plastics from packaging grew from 7.5% in 1998 to an estimated 12.5% in 2001.

See the EIE packaging pages for further information.

Landfill Tax: Landfill tax was introduced in 1996 to encourage more innovative and sustainable forms of waste management. There is also a mechanism that allows companies to use 20% of this tax liability for the funding and supporting of local environmental projects and initiatives.  Current charges (2009) are £2.50 per tonne inert waste and £40 per tonne all other taxable waste. The HM Revenue & Customs page has further details on this.

Duty of Care

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 includes regulations on importing, producing, carrying, keeping, treating or disposing of controlled waste. You need to be aware that your company has a Duty of Care to take all reasonable measures to:

1. Prevent the unauthorised or harmful disposal of your waste.
2. Prevent the escape of the waste from your or any other person's control.
3. The holder must also ensure that any transfer is to an authorised person, and a written description of the waste is also transferred.

Breach of this duty is a criminal offence.

Under European and British law, recyclables are still counted as waste, and a licence is therefore required in order to legally transport plastic waste. This has had two distinct repercussions:

1. The need to purchase a waste licence has increased the transport cost component of reclamation.
2. SMEs are allowed to transport their recyclables to a point of collection, but may not transport waste from other comanies without a license.

NetRegs has extensive and practical information on all areas of environmental law, including the issues noted above.

Know Your Plastic - Symbols & Uses

To help consumers separate thermoplastic items for recycling, the codes outlined below were developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry in America. These are now recommended by the British Plastics Federation, and the Association of  Plastics Manufacturers in Europe. At present only PET, HDPE and PVC bottles, tubs and pots are collected and recycled from consumers in the UK. However, specialist recycling companies will collect other types of plastic from businesses.

Types of plastic resin and their uses
The following list should help you sort materials for recycling. At present PET, HDPE and PVC bottles, tubs and pots and in some cases LDPE are collected and recycled from consumers in the UK. However many of the supermarkets now offer plastic carrier bag take back schemes and plastic carrier 'bags for life' made of recycled material.

Resin	Major types of packaging	Typical application
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)	Film, coatings	Carrier bags, bin bags
High-density polyethylene (HDPE)	Bottles, film	Opaque bottles (i.e. not see through) e.g. those containing milk and fruit juice, washing up liquid, detergents, fabric conditioners and milk and fruit juices
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)	Bottles	Transparent drink bottles e.g. mineral water, cooking oil, cordials and fizzy drinks
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)	Containers, film	Bottles containing cordials, still mineral water, toiletries and cooking oils. They are clear and have a seam running around the bottle.
Polystyrene (PS)	Containers	Food containers
Polypropylene (PP)	Film, containers	Cereal box liners

Further Information and Contacts

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