UK Plastics Pact slashes single-use plastics in half, urges stable supply of recycled content

02 Dec 2021 --- The UK Plastics Pact is reporting its members have cut single-use plastic packaging items by 46% and reduced the overall amount of supermarket packaging by 10% between 2018-2020. However, WRAP, the charity managing the initiative, warns “much more action is needed” to boost levels of recyclable plastic packaging around the country. 

The Pact, which has over 100 members from various areas of industry, including major F&B producers like Coca-Cola, supermarket chains like Lidl, and FMCGs like Unilever, is a voluntary commitment targeting four central goals by 2025: 

• Eliminate all unnecessary plastic packaging. 
• Make 100% of plastic packaging recyclable or reusable. 
• Make 70% of all packaging recycled or composted. 
• Achieve a 30% average recycled content across all packaging. 

The UK’s minister for environment Rebecca Pow previously applauded the Pact’s efforts and targets, and used their successes to push the 2022 Plastics Packaging Tax. 

The 2020 annual report 
A key achievement outlined in the report is a consistent reduction in consumer plastic packaging by brands and retailers since the Pact’s founding in 2018.

Pact members say they have cut the UK's reliance on single-use packaging in half.Comparing data for members that have reported each year, there has been a 10% drop in plastic packaging on supermarket shelves, with problematic and unnecessary plastic items falling by 46% since 2018. 

This 10% reduction equates to a carbon emissions savings of 335,000 metric tons – equivalent to taking 150,000 cars off the road.

Marcus Gover, WRAP CEO, states: “The UK Plastics Pact arose at a time of great public concern about plastic pollution and has been a constant and practical program for collective change to reset our relationship with plastics. Comparing 2020 against 2018, it has shown strong progress against its environmental targets during a period of unmitigated societal upheaval.”

He says the results should serve as inspiration against the backdrop of the enormous challenges faced in mitigating climate change, and how innovation and experimentation can drive forward action through public-private partnerships. 

“The results of real-life reuse and refill trials carried out under the Pact are extremely exciting for how we could shop packaging-free in the future,” he says. Recently, Unilever and Co-op expanded reuse and refill schemes at stores in the UK, allowing consumers to return packaging.

Creating a “sea change” 
Grover also celebrates the report finding a 50% growth in plastic reprocessing in the UK, which he says “is a massive improvement.”

“[Meanwhile], Recycle Week marked a record high in terms of the numbers of people recycling – helping complete the cycle of plastics to keep them in the economy and out of the environment. But as COP26 made clear, we have a long way to go and little time to make big changes.”

WRAP and UK Research and Innovation launched a £1.7 million (US$2.3 million) UK fund to support projects reducing the environmental impact of plastics in India, Chile, Kenya and South Africa on Science and Innovation Day at the climate change conference.WRAP is calling for better access to recycled material for UK packaging producers.

Recycled content doubles
The results of the annual report also highlight the doubling of the amount of recycled content in packaging to 18% since 2018, equating to over one million barrels of virgin oil being saved. 

WRAP leaders say this progress puts Pact members on track to hit 30% average recycled content by 2025 but warns it is imperative a stable supply of high-quality recycled material is maintained.

Moreover, improving material quality through designing for recyclability and increasing the amount of plastic packaging recycled and collected “is as crucial as ever,” says WRAP.

This year, producer compliance scheme Ecosurety and environmental charity Hubbub launched The Flexible Plastic Fund, a UK industry initiative aimed at making flexible plastic recycling economically viable for recyclers and easier for consumers. 

The Fund has already received £1 million (US$1.4 million) in backing from Mars UK, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever. 

The Fund intends to improve flexible plastic recycling and reduce plastic pollution by giving the material a stable value, which will, in turn, increase the supply of recycled plastic and meet the forthcoming UK plastic packaging tax requirements. 

By Louis Gore-Langton