A scheme was recently rolled out across 1500 Co-Op stores in the UK, offering customers collection points for soft plastic recycling. They follow plans implemented across a number of major supermarkets. Good news? Or is it?

Soft Plastic Recycling

I recycle everything I can through my borough’s rubbish collection service, but (like many parts of the UK), soft plastic isn’t collected by my local council. Instead it ends up in landfill.

What is soft plastic? It’s the scrunchable stuff used for things like crisp packets, bread bags, food wrapping, frozen product packaging, carrier bags, store cupboard goods packaging (like rice or pasta packets) and biscuit packaging. Speaking personally, my family seems to generate a vast amount of the stuff and it really bothers me that we don’t recycle it.

My next “little step” is to deal with it and take it to a supermarket to recycle. I looked into what each of the major supermarkets offer and where the plastic ends up.

Co-Operative Soft Plastic Recycling:

Now expanded to 1500 stores throughout the UK, the Co-Op offer collection points for their soft plastic. They are running with the tag line “Clean It, Scrunch It, Co-Op It”. In other words, clean any food residue on the plastic, scrunch it (to test whether it is appropriate for recycling). If it pings back when scrunched up tight, that’s a useful indicator that it is soft plastic. Then drop it off at your local Co-Op.

Co-op has partnered with a plastic recycling company called Jayplas who will turn the material into post-consumer plastic granules. These are used to manufacture secondary products such as bin liners, rigid products such as buckets and material for the construction industry. The idea is to stop the plastic being sent directly to landfill, being incinerated or being shipped overseas.

Currently offered at 1500 stores but expected to expand to a further 800 stores by the end of 2021, it is fantastic to see supermarkets taking some initiative.

Tesco Soft Plastic Recycling:

In March 2021 Tesco rolled out a soft plastic recycling programme at 171 stores in the UK. They offer recycling of the same types of soft plastic as Co-op but additionally cling film, baby food and pet food pouches are included. They say the plastic will be sent off to a recycling facility where it will be washed, sorted and processed to become new packaging. Some own brand cheeses on Tesco’s shelves are packaged in the recycled wrapping which is great to see.

Tesco expect to collect and recycle a staggering 1000 tonnes of soft plastic per year. More information and the full list of stores can be found HERE.

Sainsbury’s Soft Plastic Recycling:

In June 2021 Sainsbury’s also set up a soft plastic recycling scheme – they call it the flexible plastic packaging recycling system.

They have joined the Flexible Plastic Fund – an initiative set up to provide incentives for better management of soft plastics. Many businesses have signed up to this fund. Here is how it works: Sainsbury’s invest in the fund by purchasing Packaging Recovery Notes (PRN’s). They then offer retail collection points for soft plastic. The plastic is tracked and transported to an approved recycler (accredited with the Environment Agency). Once certified as having been turned into something else, PRN’s are generated and passed on to the retailer. These act like certificates proving that something has been recycled. Since different values are placed on different products, when a high grade product is produced, the PRN reflects this. This means businesses are incentivised to improve the cleanliness of collected plastic and prevent contamination. Here is a graphic from the Flexible Plastic Fund to explain the process (below).

For a full list off what CAN and CANNOT be recycled, see HERE.

Waitrose Soft Plastic Recycling:

A little slower to get going on this, Waitrose is trialling a soft plastic recycling scheme at 37 stores. They already recycled carrier bags so they have re-purposed the bins for the trial which started in May 2021.

Marks And Spencer Soft Plastic Recycling:

Also a little slow to roll out a scheme, M&S have soft plastic recycling points at just 16 stores. The collected plastic is turned into pellets which are used to make things like playground equipment and flower pots.

Asda Soft Plastic Recycling:

According to their website, some soft plastics can be put into their carrier bag recycling bins so the scheme is fairly small-scale. That being said, Asda seems to be a leader in other respects. They are the only supermarket that offers recycling points for other materials like glass, paper and clothing, although what is available at each store varies.

Is Soft Plastic Recycling A Solution To The Plastic Problem?

Well, sadly no. Plastic manufacturers would love us to believe this as it can be used to justify the ongoing production of new plastic. But it is a common misconception that plastic can be recycled endlessly and all we need to do is create a functional, circular system.

The reality is quite different. Most plastics can only be recycled once. Some can be recycled 2-3 times at the most. After this, the quality of the plastic is too low for continued use. For example, when you recycle a plastic bottle, it may be turned into something requiring a lower grade of plastic (like textiles for clothing). After that, it is usually not possible to use it again and it ends up in landfill.

So What Is The Solution?

Really it is about finding alternatives to plastic and simply not buying the stuff in the first place – using other materials, avoiding products that come in excessive plastic packaging, shopping at refill stores, buying products that come in biodegradable containers and so on.

I like to think What would my grandmother’s generation have done? and base my decisions on that. My grandmother had a pathological fear of cling film and Tupperware. To her it was a toxic, modern-world product that was viewed with great suspicion. She always felt that the chemicals would taint her food – and she was probably right! Somehow she always got by.

We also need to put pressure on manufacturers and supermarkets to reduce the amount of plastic they use – there is nothing like dwindling profits to motivate them to change. But we all have to put the pressure on. Many are already hearing what customers have to say: You can buy Waitrose ready meals in home compostable trays, Morrisons has introduced biodegradable or recyclable paper bags for loose fruit and vegetables and most supermarkets have reduced the plastic packaging on can multi-packs or in many of their frozen food packaging. Many larger supermarkets have also introduced refillable or “fill your own” sections for store cupboard essentials like pasta and rice. If we keep placing pressure on supermarkets, they will continue to adapt.

I know this sounds terribly daunting. I wonder how the heck I could ever go plastic-free. My life is busy too. I don’t have the time or money to shop at refill stores or buy fresh cheese wrapped in paper from a local farmer’s market. But we can all take little steps in the right direction and that is what I plan to do.

So, avoid plastic where you can and recycle what you can’t avoid. And now that there are supermarket options for soft plastic recycling, that’s one more step in the right direction.

Good luck on your…. I won’t say plastic-free…. plastic-reduced journey!

Bye for now,

Ellie x