Almost all plastics can be recycled, but within the UK only between 7 and 10 % of plastics are recycled and what is more�.. no one wants to take on the job of recycling plastic.
This is because plastic is somewhat costly to recycle. The recycling market is driven by weight. So tonnes of plastic are required before it can be recycled. But plastic is extremely light and within the UK it would be time intensive to actually gather the plastic necessary to make it economically viable.
Yet we produce between 3 and 5 million tonnes of plastic every year and it isn't biodegradable : around 60 % of the litter on our beaches is plastic.
Businesses cannot be blamed for the 'plastic problem' since households produce more plastic waste than the business sector. However, most other countries do manage to recycle more than we do: only Portugal and Greece are worse than the UK for recycling plastic.
This is because plastic is somewhat costly to recycle. The recycling market is driven by weight. So tonnes of plastic are required before it can be recycled. But plastic is extremely light and within the UK it would be time intensive to actually gather the plastic necessary to make it economically viable.
Yet we produce between 3 and 5 million tonnes of plastic every year and it isn't biodegradable : around 60 % of the litter on our beaches is plastic.
Businesses cannot be blamed for the 'plastic problem' since households produce more plastic waste than the business sector. However, most other countries do manage to recycle more than we do: only Portugal and Greece are worse than the UK for recycling plastic.