Wedoany.com Report-Dec.13, The British Plastics Federation has highlighted concerns that the United Kingdom faces a substantial risk of diminishing its domestic plastic recycling capacity.

Over the past two years, more than 17 recycling facilities or operators—representing a combined annual processing volume of approximately 400,000 tonnes—have ceased operations. This reduction impacts the country's self-sufficiency in waste management and employment in the sector.

Philip Law, director general of the BPF, said, "The government is quite rightly focused on developing a circular economy for the UK, but this will be unachievable without a strong UK plastic recycling industry, an industry that is currently being eroded. There has been a neglect of support for UK plastic recycling companies as individual businesses in recent years.

"The UK Government targets for plastics recycling have only been met due to the export of waste supported by the Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) rather than encouraging domestic recycling in the UK with all the investment and jobs that this would create. The industry urgently needs the government to take action to support the remaining companies otherwise it risks yet more degradation of our domestic recycling capability and becoming entirely reliant on an export-based waste management model."

The BPF attributes these challenges to multiple factors, including elevated operational costs for energy, labour, and regulatory compliance; competitive imports of recycled materials from regions with lower processing expenses; availability of inexpensive virgin plastics due to increased global production; incentives for waste exports through PERNs that complicate traceability; instances of inaccurate claims regarding recycled content; and prolonged delays in policy updates that create planning uncertainty.

Philip Law added, “Whilst the government is beginning to recognise the situation and respond there has still been no immediate action. We urge the government to look to initially stabilise and then grow the industry.”

The BPF's Stabilise & Grow plan proposes measures in two phases.

Immediate stabilisation steps include energy cost relief and eligibility for Climate Change Agreements; reforms to enhance transparency and enforcement in the PRN/PERN system; redirection of Plastic Packaging Tax revenue toward domestic infrastructure; standardised certification for recycled content; alignment with relevant international standards; safeguards for local markets; and continued support for smaller operators' permitting requirements.

Long-term growth initiatives encompass policies favouring domestically processed recyclate in public procurement; mechanisms to retain materials within the country; accelerated approvals for new facilities; and requirements for design focused on recyclability across product categories.

These recommendations aim to preserve and expand the sector at a time when circular economy objectives require robust local processing capabilities.