Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan (PIRAP) – Year 2

The Plastics Industry Recycling Action Plan (PIRAP) was originally launched in June 2015 and over the last year the plastic industry (BPF and PlasticsEurope) have taken greater responsibility for PIRAP. As part of this the BPF Recycling Group has also become actively involved.

When PIRAP was originally set up an action plan was produced. This lists specific actions for each stage of the value chain which collectively help towards PIRAP’s aim of increasing plastic packaging recycling. The action plan is continuing to be used by PIRAP supporters but the programme is now being developed further. Working groups are being set up which will focus on exploring specific barriers to plastic recycling. The working groups will also allow PIRAP to have a wider reach then just plastic packaging although increasing plastic packaging recycling will remain the aim of PIRAP.

PIRAP currently has 51 members from across the value chain. We encourage all BPF members to be involved in PIRAP and to sign up as supporters.

Three of PIRAP’s working group are already active with more to follow over the year.

Plastics bottle working group

This working group consists of a wide range of stakeholders including representatives from prominent retailers, recyclers, the resource and waste management sector, soft drinks industry, local councils and packaging suppliers. The initial meeting looked at current collection systems, recycling levels, options for improvement and obstacles.

Individual stakeholder engagement is now taking place to explore opportunities to implement consumer awareness and behaviour change campaigns.

Welsh case study

The recycling rate in Wales is the highest in the UK at 55.8% in 2015 compared to England’s recycling rate of 43.9% (UK overall is 44.3%). This working group is exploring the Welsh approach to managing recycling and looking for opportunities for replicate some of these approaches in the UK through sharing best practice.

End Markets

This is the newest working group who will meet for the first time in June. The initial meeting will enable the group to explore all the aspects of end markets then decide on specific areas it would like to focus on. Areas to be discussed will include creating or developing end markets, preventing the loss of existing markets, standards and communications.

For more information on PIRAP’s working groups or to sign up please contact Helen Jordan ([email protected]).