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The ambitious plastic recycling targets set by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) may be hard to meet.
This is according to the British Plastic Federation Recycling Group (BPFRG) in response to suggestions made last month that 57 per cent of the plastics printed labels are attached to should be recycled by 2017.
Although the BPFRG agreed that more effort should be made to help the environment, it warns that setting targets above 50 per cent could be counterproductive.
However, chairman Roger Baynham admitted that a significant increase is possible if the government, waste management companies and brand owners work together to provide innovation and funding.
According to letsrecycle.com, the BPFRG also spoke out in 2010 after the Labour government attempted to raise plastic packaging recycling targets, pointing out that Germany has only achieved a 42 per cent recycling rate after 15 years.
However, estimates from the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations last month suggested that all of the plastic packaging that printed labels are attached to could be recycled in nine years' time.
Denny Bros Ltd, 09 January 2012
