Recycling Roadmap

We are thrilled to present the second edition of the BPF Recycling Roadmap, which presents the latest data across all plastics sectors, charts the onward progress of the UK's plastics recycling industry, and examines the potential for future growth to 2035. Achieving the goals set out in this report could make the UK one of the leading nations when it comes to the sound management of plastic waste, and potentially save over one million tonnes of carbon emissions.

The below Roadmap illustrates the conditions in which a fully circular economy for plastics can spring to life. We hope that companies will find inspiration in the success it charts and that government will find a sound statistical base on which to build policies supporting a robust waste management infrastructure for the future.
 

What's New?

The roadmap builds upon the previous edition (published in 2021 and showed what could theoretically be achieved by 2030) as nearly four years after the first edition was published, we are yet to witness many key changes required.

There have been multiple delays to policies that the first edition assumed would be implemented well ahead of 2030. A challenging economic environment has also played a role. Most significantly, there needs to be more government support in the level of investment in infrastructure.

However, it is important to note that the updated forecast highlights that a lot can still be achieved within a decade.

This second edition of the Recycling Roadmap updates the ‘placed on the market’ (POM) figures for all key sectors of the plastic industry as well as the recycling figures for this material. It introduces additional sectors that were not included in the previous edition, including ‘Household, Leisure and Sports’ and has expanded both the construction and medical sections to give a wider perspective on these industries. It also explores the environmental impact of the plastic waste sector and the benefits to be derived if more plastic waste was moved further up the waste hierarchy.
 

The Recycling Roadmap

See a preview of the Roadmap below. ​​​​​To view the full 30-page report, please download it using the button below.

 

Predictions For 2035

The roadmap projects what the UK could achieve over the next decade, provided the correct drivers are put in place. If the right policy, investment, and infrastructure develops over this time, the BPF has found the following could occur:

• A 70% reuse and recycling rate can be achieved 
• An extra 23% of total plastic waste could be mechanically recycled in the UK,
• An extra 6% could be chemically recycled
• 15% less plastic could be sent to energy recovery facilities
• 13% of the UK’s total plastic waste could be reused

The forecast has been put together using a scenario based approached and made a number of assumptions which were presented in the report. The forecast was produced to be ambitious and to provide a push for a number of key changes to be implemented to allow it to be achieved.

The key changes focus around three pillars:

1. Increasing investment
2. Optimising legislation and existing systems
3. Improving communication and collection systems

From these we could pull out:

• Support for innovative and effective sorting and recycling technologies and their commercialisation in the UK
• Review of the UK’s food contact regulations
• Increase in collection of plastic by setting up recycling opportunities for all items not collected kerbside.

The report above goes into more detail, highlighting 16 key changes that are required.
 

Analysis

The second-edition roadmap presents the latest data across the diverse range of sectors where plastic is utilised. It shows there has been limited progress made since the first edition of the roadmap published in 2021. This is evident in the revised 2030 forecast, which acknowledges that achieving the original 2030 forecast over the next six years would not be realistic.

The absence of key changes, legislative delays leading to uncertainty, and a challenging economic environment have all contributed to this outcome. However, the 2035 forecast highlights that a lot can be achieved within a decade and a significant shift of material up the plastic waste hierarchy can be accomplished. This requires immediate action to create the right conditions to enable this to happen. These changes are set out in the updated key changes - download here.

The BPF believes that, although ambitious, the forecasts presented in the report are achievable. The Plastic Packaging Tax remains an unused resource that could be a catalyst for change. Investing funds from the tax could provide the much-needed infrastructure for the waste sector.

 

Downloadable Assets

Download these files and use/share as you wish - please credit www.bpf.co.uk/roadmap:

Download individually or get a folder of these graphics here.

 

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Recycling Roadmap 2021

The British Plastics Federation's 2021 Recycling Roadmap report highlights what the UK needs to achieve if it is to drastically reduce reliance on exporting plastic waste for recycling. The first edition of the Recycling Roadmap delves into the UK's waste management practices and outlines visionary strategies for 2030. It includes actionable steps to achieve the following goals: With the right drivers in place, plastic recycled within UK facilities could increase 3.5 times by the year 2030. The UK could eliminate reliance on low quality exports of plastic waste in the next ten years and could more than halve the amount of plastic waste being exported. Plastic waste ending up in landfill sites could reduce to only 1%, representing a 94% reduction. The amount of waste plastic processed by newer recycling technologies such as chemical recycling could grow 60 times. The UK could recycle up to 65% of all plastic and 75% of plastic packaging by 2030. CLICK HERE to view our previous report.

 

 

 

To learn more about the BPF's sustainability efforts visit our Sustainability Hub.