Plastics recycling organisation Recoup claims that Britain is making progress in terms of the amount of household items that avoid ending up in landfill.
According to Recoup's UK Household Plastics and Packaging Collection Survey 2011, 281,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were collected for recycling by local authorities last year.
This represents 48.5 per cent of all bottles that end up in the waste stream and could hint at the success of recycling printed labels on food and drinks packaging.
What's more, the amount of yoghurt pots and ready-meal packets that were recycled in 2010 reached 76,300 tonnes - almost double the 40,000 tonnes recorded in 2009.
Recoup claimed that over the next five years "non bottle collection rates will increase significantly, requiring urgent investment in sorting infrastructure".
Recently, Amcor Rigid Plastics, a manufacturing company based in Australia, claimed that plastic jars could soon usurp glass containers because they are lighter and easier to open.
Denny Bros Ltd, 28 October 2011
