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UK Consumers Only Recycle One-Third of Plastic Packaging Annually
Recycling groups claim that the low number is due to the fact that consumers aren’t 100 percent sure which items can and cannot be recycled.
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According to the recent UK Household Plastics Collection survey conducted by RECOUP, UK consumers only recycle one-third of plastic packaging per year. The remaining two-thirds is sent to landfill or incinerated.
Recycling groups claim that the low number is due to the fact that consumers aren’t 100 percent sure which items can and cannot be recycled. Additionally, consumers have limited access to certain recycling collection services.
The Guardian has more details:
Only a third of plastic packaging used in consumer products is recycled each year, with almost two-thirds sent to landfill or incinerated, according to new research.
Of the 1.5m tonnes of recyclable plastic waste used by consumers in Britain in 2015 only 500,000 tonnes was recycled, according to the figures compiled by Co-op from the Recoup UK Household Plastics Collection survey.
This figure means that the recycling of plastic is considerably below the national average for recycling; currently 45% of recyclable goods are recycled each year.
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