Thousands of homes take part in flexible plastics collection trial

Newcastle City Council has joined four other local authorities across the UK in piloting the FPF FlexCollect project.

From June 5, 5,000 homes have been able to recycle flexible plastics such as plastic bags, wrappers, packets, and film, which are currently some of the hardest items to recycle.

Residents are provided with a new blue collection bag for their flexible plastics.

This is placed in their existing recycling container in their blue bin, which is then collected and pulled out at the material recycling facility.

The eligible households received information about the trial last month.

At present, the only way for residents to recycle plastic bags and wrapping is at supermarket collection points.

Cllr Jane Byrne, Newcastle City Council Cabinet member for a Connected, Clean City, said: “Improving the quality of recycling and reducing waste are among our key priorities so I am delighted more than 5,000 homes in Newcastle will be taking part in this exciting trial.

“Residents will be able to recycle a wider range of plastics which is another step towards making our city greener and more sustainable.

“The trial will gradually expand to more homes over the next two to three years.

“The pilot supports the fantastic work we are doing to improve recycling rates in the city, from engaging with communities to highlight the importance of recycling to reducing contamination through the use of indoor recycling smart bags.

“I am also proud that the pop-up recycling centres continue to be very popular with residents, making recycling easier for those without access to a vehicle and helping to tackle on-street fly-tipping.”

With only 8% of flexible plastics currently being collected from homes, the industry is stepping up its game ahead of the introduction of compulsory kerbside collections planned for 2027 across the UK.

To tackle this issue, key players in the industry, including manufacturers and brands, set up the Flexible Plastic Fund in 2021.

The £3m FPF FlexCollect project was then launched in May 2022 and is co-managed by a consortium comprising the project co-funders, Ecosurety, RECOUP, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and WRAP.

Newcastle and Somerset have joined South Gloucestershire, Cheltenham and Maldon in taking part in the pilot.

Gareth Morton, spokesperson for FPF FlexCollect and Discovery Manager at Ecosurety, said: “We are pleased to see the FPF FlexCollect project building steadily, with now five local authorities on board to help us gain valuable insights into how to successfully collect and recycle household flexible plastics.

“We are looking forward to share openly our learnings at the end of this year to get the UK ready for widespread collections by 2027.”

Thomas Merry, Commercialisation and Innovation Manager for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK and FPF Project Director, said “The addition of Somerset and Newcastle to the FPF FlexCollect project complements the current pilots well, with the urban inner-city area of Newcastle and Somerset’s rural population providing an interesting contrast with pilot areas already up and running.

“This will build on our learnings so far, providing valuable insight into participation rates and volumes from different communities.”

For more information about the trial and recycling plastics, visit www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/environment-and-waste/rubbish-and-recycling/recycling/recycling-plastics.