RECOUP starts group to find the new black for recycling food packaging

RECOUP has brought together a cross industry group to agree new commitments on recycling black plastic packaging.

The group, with members from packaging manufacturers, packers, brands and retailers, material re-processors, trade associations and independent specialists, aims to find ways to use a tried and tested detectable pigment, develop business models and new technology solutions to sort existing black plastic packaging material, and assess and implement opportunities to change from black to an alternative colour.

Meeting these objectives will enable the collection, sorting and recycling of black plastic packaging, and the development of sustainable solutions which can be embraced by all members of the supply and recycling chain. This includes end market development, which is essential to ensure demand is created to enable the value of this material to be fully realised.

So far RECOUP’s group has committed to ‘find sustainable solutions by the end of 2018 that will enable the recycling of all black plastic packaging bottles, pots, tubs and trays.’

This will be delivered within the Black Plastics Packaging Recycling Roadmap with representatives from all sectors engaged with ongoing activities to explore available and new opportunities, including:

Stuart Foster, CEO, RECOUP, said: “Despite the inevitable politics and positioning behind issues such as black plastic recycling, our role at RECOUP is to bring the various groups and stakeholders together to make practical steps forward and build on the great work of individual organisations to date. The aim is to drive black plastic recycling forwards in a practical and sensible way, turning ambitions and collaborative thinking into actual delivery.”

Helen Jordan, of the British Plastic Federation and the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan, said: “This cross-industry group is a positive strive towards ensuring a circular economy for black plastic packaging. The work contributes towards the plastic industry’s overall commitment through the Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan (PIRAP) of increasing plastic recycling.”

Iain Ferguson, Environment Manager with the Co-op, said: “We know that the issue of black plastic and ready-meal trays is one of the most challenging recycling problems faced by the industry, and bringing key industry stakeholders together to co-operate and develop a solution for this complex problem is the way forward as we work towards our ambition of making 100% of our packaging easy to recycle.”