Co-op Soft Plastic Recycling | Where does it go?

This article was submitted by James Parker on behalf of Lightyear Hosting.

James William Steven Parker is a professional blogger and web designer. James is also the founder and director of Lightyear Hosting, a web hosting company in Portishead. James used to work as a supervisor at his local Co-op Food branch located in Avon Way, Portishead, near Bristol.

When Co-op Food introduced their grey and blue plastic recycling bins in their retail stores, people have since been speculating how Co-op recycle their plastics wondering whether or not it merely goes to landfill, or whether or not it is truly recycled. This article was written to help answer those questions.

Why did the Co-op start recycling plastic?

Following a successful pilot in 50 stores last year (2020), the Co-op is expanding its in-store collection system for plastic bags and flexible packaging to 1,500 locations by the end of July.

Customers will be urged to return bags and food packaging to their local shop, whether they came from the Co-op or another retailer or brand. Crisp packets, bread bags, single-use carrier bags and bags for life, lids from ready meals and yoghurt pots, biscuit wrappers, and pet food pouches are all covered by the scheme.

Jayplas, a plastic recycling company, will process the materials collected. Bin liners, construction materials, and stiff plastic goods such as buckets can all be made from the pellets produced from the gathered waste.

Once the initiative is fully implemented, Co-op boasts that it will have Europe’s largest in-store network of take-back bins for issue plastics. After launching in 1,500 stores in July 2021, hundreds more will open by the end of November, increasing the total number of retailers to 2,300.

When did Co-op roll out plastic recycling?

Co-op announced the introduction of Europe’s largest extensive in-store recycling scheme for plastic bags and product wrapping on Friday, July 9, 2021. By the end of the month (July), the convenience store will have become the first in the UK to offer 100% recyclable food packaging, putting an end to the perplexing postcode lottery of curbside pickups.

Co-op stores will have recycling equipment for ‘soft’ plastics at 1,500 stores by July and 2,300 stores by November. By creating an accessible disposal route for materials that are unlikely to be collected by UK councils, such as crisp packets, bread bags, single-use carrier bags and bags-for-life, lids from ready meals and yoghurt pots, biscuit wrappers, and pet-food pouches, the initiative ensures that all Co-op’s food packaging is easily recyclable.

All of Co-op’s food packaging is easy to recycle, either through curbside collection or through the in-house closed-loop system, thanks to the in-store facilities, which also take packaging for food goods purchased from other shops. When the bins became fully operational, the shop expected that 300 tonnes of plastic bags and food packaging would be collected every year.

Following a successful 50-store film collection trial last year in 2020, it was revealed that 86 per cent of shoppers were inclined to utilise the service. The scheme is now being rolled out across the country.

It is also intended to reassure worried communities that the collected plastics will be recycled in the United Kingdom. Instead of filling landfills, going to incineration, or being transported overseas, the recyclable material is transformed into post-consumer plastic granules by Jayplas, which are then made into usable secondary items like bin liners, rigid objects like buckets, and construction material.

Currently, fewer than 30% of household waste is recycled in some places, with processes that differ from council to council adding to the confusion. According to WRAP estimates, just 6% of plastic bags and wrapping from UK households is recycled each year, despite accounting for around a fifth of all plastic packaging by weight. The aim to reduce food waste is balanced against the elimination of unneeded plastics.

A nationwide, multi-channel marketing campaign accompanied the launch on Friday, 9 July 2021 — as part of a new agreement with ITV, a new Co-op TV ad that debuted during the Coronation Street ad break.

From removing plastic stems from cotton buds before any other retailer 14 years ago, to banning microbeads and removing black (so-called ‘vanity’) plastic from shelves in 2019, the Co-op has always been at the forefront of reducing hidden plastic and wasteful packaging.

Co-op published its new ten-point climate plan in May 2021 on their website (refer to the References below to read their official published article), laying out a roadmap for the retailer to attain net-zero carbon emissions for direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2040, including offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from Co-op products and services.

How does Co-op recycle plastics?

Co-op’ website claims that soft plastics such as crisp packets and bread bags can now be recycled at a Co-op near you. It makes no difference where you purchased them. Simply place your soft plastics in their recycling bins, and they claim to take care of the rest. Co-op represents that we can all do our part to help the environment.

Soft plastics are simple to recycle. Simply follow these three simple steps as advised by Co-op:

• Clean it – Start by rinsing your package.
• Scrunch it – Now scrunch it uptight – if it retracts back, you know it’s soft plastic.
• Co-op it – Drop it off at a Co-op near you in our soft plastics recycling bin.

What are soft plastics?

Soft plastics are thin, lightweight polymers that are difficult to recycle at home. Consider yoghurt pots, soft fruit punnets, and ready meals with plastic film tops, as well as plastic crisp packs, pasta bags, and chocolate or biscuit wrappers.

Plastic bottles, tubs, pots, trays, and caps are not among them. If you’re not sure, squish it up and see if it pings back; if it does, it’s likely to be soft plastic. Check to see what you can recycle and what you can’t.

Where can you recycle soft plastics?

Soft plastics can currently be recycled at 1,500 Co-op stores around the country. By the end of 2021, Co-op hopes to have this service available in another 800 of their stores.

Co-op express that they are unable to install recycling equipment in very tiny stores at this particular time (refer to the referenced articles below for more information). The Isle of Man’s stores is not included. The Co-op currently does not have recycling facilities on the Scottish Islands, but the Co-op is working to bring them to their stores there as soon as possible.

Plastic Recycling Near Me

You can find a local recycling centre using Recycle Now’s recycling locator.

Who recycles Co-op’s plastics?

The Co-op uses a third-party private company called Jayplas to recycle its plastics.

Jayplas claims to be a UK market leader in post-consumer recycling, having been founded in 1975 and having almost 40 years of experience in the plastic recycling industry. Their main line of business is:

• Collecting, sorting, and processing large quantities of old plastics into feedstock for packaging manufacturers.
• Using specialised facilities located at several of their locations, they manufacture a wide selection of plastic bags.

All of their raw materials and finished goods are transported across the UK by their national collection and distribution network, which includes a fleet of over 35 tractor units and 200 trailers.

They can – and do – supply-managed, easy, and efficient recycling solutions by working closely with their clients and investing in cutting-edge processing technology.

By removing waste plastic material from businesses and returning it to them in a re-usable condition, Jayplas enable their clients to ‘close the loop.’ This is how it works:

• By considering consumers’ garbage as a resource, it helps to maximise profits.
• Improves ‘zero-waste-to-landfill initiatives.
• Reduces the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere.

How much plastic waste does Co-op Food generate?

Co-op generates more than 750 million pieces of plastic film each year, and the material has proven difficult to recycle as the company strives to achieve 100% recyclability for its own-brand lines by the end of 2021. Other measures made by the retailer to promote recyclability include the prohibition of black plastics.

In a statement, the retailer stated the programme was created to “help combat the perplexing postcode lottery of curbside collections.” In the United Kingdom, there is no unified set of rules for what local governments should collect from households for recycling, and flexible plastics are frequently excluded because their lightweight nature means that processing them mechanically costs more than what recyclers will get from the resulting material. 86 per cent of shoppers would be willing to return packaging to the store if this issue persists, according to Co-early op’s trials of the scheme last year.

“There’s no doubt that unnecessary plastic needs to be reduced, including bags and wrapping, which represent one-fifth of all consumer plastic packaging,” said Helen Bird, WRAP’s strategic technical manager.

“However, where it is necessary it is urgent to design it for recycling and ensure recycling systems are in place. It’s great to see the rollout of collections across Co-op’s stores significantly contributing to the goal of The UK Plastics Pact for all plastic packaging to be recyclable by 2025. Not only is the Co-op ensuring that the service is widely promoted, but it is also processing the material within the UK, demonstrating how we can build back better for the economy and environment.”

What are other supermarkets doing to tackle their plastic waste?

According to WRAP research, the flexible film was responsible for 290,000 tonnes of plastic packaging trash in 2019. According to a separate study by the Flexible Packaging Consortium, 215 billion pieces of flexible plastic packaging are sold in the UK each year, with almost all of it ending up in landfills or incineration.

While the UK Government is unlikely to undertake measures to standardise recycling collections across UK local authorities for some time because of COVID-19 related delays affecting consultations on the Resources and Waste Strategy, numerous merchants have shown an interest in filling the gap.

Following successful trials in the North East of England earlier this year, Sainsbury’s announced intentions last month to roll out in-store recycling systems for flexible plastics packaging across all of its stores nationally.

What are other supermarkets doing to tackle their plastic waste?

Tesco soft plastic recycling

Tesco is bringing flexible plastic recycling terminals to 171 large stores across Wales and the South West of England, while Aldi UK is starting with 20 locations. Recycling at Tesco is already underway.

Heinz has introduced its first recyclable squeeze top for ketchup bottles this week, in other plastics recycling news. Because the prior caps had two separate materials – one for the stiff exterior and another for the flexible dispenser valve – they were not recyclable at the curb.

The first products set to benefit from a packaging switch will be Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Heinz BBQ Sauce. The new mono-material caps will then be added to all Heinz squeeze bottles across Europe and, subsequently, the brand’s other global markets. The global rollout is expected to be complete in 2022 and will affect one billion caps every year.

Heinz said that the new cap took eight years of research and development, with a £900,180 ($1.2 million) investment. There were 45 distinct designs produced in total before the final one was chosen.

By 2025, Heinz’s overall plastic pledge is to make all packaging worldwide recyclable, reuse, or compostable. Plastic shrinkwrap was removed from canned multipack products in the UK earlier this year, and it was replaced with environmentally certified paperboard.

More information about Jayplas

Jayplas was founded in 1975 and is the UK market leader in post-consumer recycling, with nearly 40 years of expertise in the plastic recycling industry. Collecting, sorting, and processing industrial amounts of a wide range of discarded plastics into feedstocks for packaging industries, as well as manufacturing a diversified range of plastic bags utilising specialist plants situated at several of their locations, are the company’s key businesses.

It can – and does – provides managed, convenient, and efficient recycling solutions by working closely with clients and investing in cutting-edge processing technologies. It allows customers to ‘close the loop’ by taking waste plastic material from businesses and returning it to them in a reusable form. This strategy promotes ‘zero-waste to landfill’ campaigns and minimises carbon footprints while also helping companies maximise profits by treating customers’ waste as a resource.

This article was submitted by James Parker on behalf of Lightyear Hosting. Want to make your own website? Get started with Lightyear Hosting today.

References

In the world of fake, nonsense and over-dramatised articles. James Parker likes to cite his sources where possible. They are as follows:

• https://www.coop.co.uk/environment/soft-plastics
• https://www.co-operative.coop/media/news-releases/co-op-launches-europes-most-extensive-collection-scheme-for-plastic-bags
• https://www.jayplas.com/
• https://www.edie.net/news/5/Co-op-set-to-expand-flexible-plastic-recycling-scheme-to-1-500-stores-this-month/