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MPs shame the UK\'s plastics industry for producing Lucozade and Ribena bottles that are IMPOSSIBLE to recycle
by：Lisson
2020-05-29
The British Plastics industry was humiliated by members of Congress for producing unrecyclable bottles of Lucozade and Ribena.
A special committee was informed that the soft drink bottle was wrapped in plastic film, which gave the bottle a \"grab factor\" to the consumer.
But plastic wrapping paper pollutes other plastic recycling because the plastic used by the bottle maker does not have processing facilities.
Mary Creagh MP, chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, referred to the use of recyclable plastics as \"absurd \".
It may be necessary to prevent manufacturers from producing goods that must be burned, buried in landfill sites or shipped to China rather than recycled, she said.
Mrs. Creagh asked Barry Turner, director of plastic and flexible packaging at the British Plastics Federation: \"Why do your members produce products that cannot be recycled in UK recycling facilities?
When asked by Mr Turner about a specific example, she said: \"You have packaging of non-recyclable polymers on plastic bottles.
For example, the Lucozade package.
\"Why do we need to wrap a plastic bottle in plastic?
Turner replied: \"We cannot dictate the brand they choose to use.
Mrs. Creagh replied, \"so you just give them what they want.
\"It doesn\'t matter if it\'s recyclable,\" he added, \"so it needs to be regulated.
If you tell consumers it\'s recyclable, they won\'t buy it, so you keep people in the dark.
The commission has heard that the pollution of plastic waste in Britain\'s rivers, oceans and rural areas is a growing problem.
Of the 30 billion plastic bottles that British families use each year, it is currently only recycled, half buried and half wasted.
The committee has heard that about 700,000 plastic bottles become rubbish every day.
Turner said it was possible for the UK to produce plastic bottles of all 50 recycled materials-a request that has been made by France.
The Daily Mail calls for deposit plans for plastic bottles to stop them from polluting our land and oceans.
Mrs. Creagh asked Gavin Paddington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, why his members made plastic that could not be reused.
\"How do you recycle the Lucozade bottle packaged in that interesting orange movie?
Or Ribena wrapped in a movie.
Paddington responded that he was not a \"reprocessing expert\" but added: \"100 of the bottle itself is recyclable.
Movies can be extracted or reprocessed.
Mrs. Creagh said, \"but no, is it?
Because your member did not put a clear label on it.
This is the polymer that pollutes the rest of the plastic flow.
She continued: \"My understanding is that there is only one factory in the country that can recycle plastic films.
\"For the 300 Waste Management Agency, it is not feasible and cost-effective to pick out each point of plastic wrap or plastic polymer in the classification process . . . . . . Isn\'t this ridiculous? \'.
Paddington said he accepted the \"it\'s a problem\" that his members are now seeking to address, adding: \"We don\'t have enough reprocessing and recycling facilities in the UK.
The commission was told that a plan, called \"Producer Responsibility\" (PRN), aimed at increasing recycling in the UK, created an \"abnormal incentive\" to ship plastic waste to China \".
A spokesperson for Lucozade Ribena Sunseeker told the Daily Mail: \"We take our environmental responsibility very seriously and continue to make positive improvements.
A special committee was informed that the soft drink bottle was wrapped in plastic film, which gave the bottle a \"grab factor\" to the consumer.
But plastic wrapping paper pollutes other plastic recycling because the plastic used by the bottle maker does not have processing facilities.
Mary Creagh MP, chairman of the Environmental Audit Committee, referred to the use of recyclable plastics as \"absurd \".
It may be necessary to prevent manufacturers from producing goods that must be burned, buried in landfill sites or shipped to China rather than recycled, she said.
Mrs. Creagh asked Barry Turner, director of plastic and flexible packaging at the British Plastics Federation: \"Why do your members produce products that cannot be recycled in UK recycling facilities?
When asked by Mr Turner about a specific example, she said: \"You have packaging of non-recyclable polymers on plastic bottles.
For example, the Lucozade package.
\"Why do we need to wrap a plastic bottle in plastic?
Turner replied: \"We cannot dictate the brand they choose to use.
Mrs. Creagh replied, \"so you just give them what they want.
\"It doesn\'t matter if it\'s recyclable,\" he added, \"so it needs to be regulated.
If you tell consumers it\'s recyclable, they won\'t buy it, so you keep people in the dark.
The commission has heard that the pollution of plastic waste in Britain\'s rivers, oceans and rural areas is a growing problem.
Of the 30 billion plastic bottles that British families use each year, it is currently only recycled, half buried and half wasted.
The committee has heard that about 700,000 plastic bottles become rubbish every day.
Turner said it was possible for the UK to produce plastic bottles of all 50 recycled materials-a request that has been made by France.
The Daily Mail calls for deposit plans for plastic bottles to stop them from polluting our land and oceans.
Mrs. Creagh asked Gavin Paddington, director general of the British Soft Drinks Association, why his members made plastic that could not be reused.
\"How do you recycle the Lucozade bottle packaged in that interesting orange movie?
Or Ribena wrapped in a movie.
Paddington responded that he was not a \"reprocessing expert\" but added: \"100 of the bottle itself is recyclable.
Movies can be extracted or reprocessed.
Mrs. Creagh said, \"but no, is it?
Because your member did not put a clear label on it.
This is the polymer that pollutes the rest of the plastic flow.
She continued: \"My understanding is that there is only one factory in the country that can recycle plastic films.
\"For the 300 Waste Management Agency, it is not feasible and cost-effective to pick out each point of plastic wrap or plastic polymer in the classification process . . . . . . Isn\'t this ridiculous? \'.
Paddington said he accepted the \"it\'s a problem\" that his members are now seeking to address, adding: \"We don\'t have enough reprocessing and recycling facilities in the UK.
The commission was told that a plan, called \"Producer Responsibility\" (PRN), aimed at increasing recycling in the UK, created an \"abnormal incentive\" to ship plastic waste to China \".
A spokesperson for Lucozade Ribena Sunseeker told the Daily Mail: \"We take our environmental responsibility very seriously and continue to make positive improvements.
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