“Our future depends on plastics”: Viridor unites UK recycling with Rubbish to Resource initiative

28 Feb 2020 --- In a bid to find a regional recycling solution to plastic waste in the South West of England and South Wales, UK, waste management company Viridor hosted a conference called Rubbish to Resource in Bristol yesterday. At the event, Phil Piddington, Viridor Managing Director, introduced an initiative designed to ensure that all plastic consumed in the region, from kerbside local authority collections, beach cleans and litter picks, is sent to companies capable of recycling it. Viridor has long advocated for closer collaboration between institutions and recycling companies, as it underscores “single-use and throwaway culture” as the root cause of packaging’s environmental scourge. 

“We know that this is a region that is investing in the innovation needed to keep plastic out of the natural environment and put it back in the circular economy where it belongs. But it is not just about one company, the success of this project lies in collaboration. This is something that this region can lead on and which can be replicated across the UK and globally,” Piddington said at the event.

The conference played host to over 150 representatives from local authorities, recyclers and reprocessors, packaging manufacturers, consumer brands and NGOs. The encompassing sentiment is to shift perceptions of plastic as waste to plastic as a valuable resource, the company affirms. Instead of disintegrating in a landfill, Viridor aims to have all used plastics manufactured into value-added products instead. 

Click to EnlargePhil Piddington brought UK packaging players together to discuss how to streamline regional recycling infrastructure. Piddington’s initiative seeks to seal the previously established UK Plastic Pact with a “more profound” regional pact to close the loop and create a circular economy. “Plastics are a part of who we are. They have facilitated the development of our modern world and enriched our quality of life. Our future depends on them, but they must be a sustainable resource,” the company states in a post-event promotional video.

Addressing the dearth of adequate recycling infrastructure, Viridor recently invested £65 million (US$84.6 million) in a new recycling and reprocessing center in Avonmouth, near Bristol, in what is now the UK’s largest multi-polymer plant. The new plastics recycling plant will be powered by energy generated using non-recyclable waste as its fuel.

“Viridor has already taken a leading role in tackling Bristol’s waste, supporting us to be the top recycling city in England. The West of England is bringing forward the technologies and interventions we need to help create a circular economy, so I am proud to be associated with this exciting project,” added Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees.

A common cause
Piddington identifies pooling “infrastructure, expertise and, most importantly, will” as instrumental to ensuring that plastic does not escape the closed-loop economy. “We want to do our bit and show real leadership. It is everyone’s concern and everyone’s responsibility.”

BBC News Rural Affairs Correspondent Tom Heap spoke at the event about the changing public attitudes to plastic and the need for an effective solution to the plastics problem. “Public perceptions of plastic have changed dramatically in recent years, even to the extent that misinformation about widely recyclable plastic is having unintended consequences for both resource efficiency and climate change.”

In response to consumers’ calls for clearer, consistent on-pack recycling information, the On-Packing Recycling Label (OPRL) recently announced its new “Recycle” or “Don’t Recycle” binary labeling system. “We need to make plastic work even harder, reusing and recycling it correctly and more often. Now it’s down to all of us to make this happen every day, in every room in the house,” says Alice Harlock, Membership and Service Manager at OPRL. 

Libby Peake, Head of Resource Policy at Green Alliance, concludes that plastic pollution is one of the most significant environmental challenges of our age, which requires “a monumental effort from across all of society.” She stresses the importance of this collaborative responsibility across the packaging supply chain, ranging from the sectors involved with packaging design, manufacture, use, collection and recycling of plastic and alternative materials.

By Anni Schleicher 

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