TWO CHEERS FOR UK RECYCLING

Some good news from RECOUP’s latest report on UK plastic recycling. Rates have trebled in three years. But this does not quite merit three cheers. The plastic bottle recycling rate reached 39% in 2008, compared with 13% in 2005, 20% in 2006 and 35% in 2007. That represents 4,753 million plastic bottles being recovered, an increase of 752 million or 19% on 2007. The European average for PET in 2007, however, was 43%, so we should be doing better. Moreover, it seems that 7.2 million out of 25.3 million UK households still do not have kerbside collection schemes. Yes, 154 out of 475 local authorities have no provision and are therefore failing us as well as our environment. Two cheers, then, for the two thirds that do.