Eight out of ten is the new minimum

People in EU countries should recycle 50% of their plastic packaging waste by 2025 at the latest. In Finland, we only reach 30% of this target, although the majority of Finns (more than 80%) say that they recycle their plastic packaging waste ‘almost always’ or ‘quite often’. This is according to a recent survey by the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). So, why do zealous recycling efforts not produce a better recycling rate?

SYKE’s survey does not define what ‘always’ or ‘quite often’ means. Let’s assume that it means eight out of ten pieces of plastic packaging. Let’s also assume that people who recycle their plastic packaging waste less frequently manage to recycle three out of ten pieces. This would mean that 70% of the non-deposit plastic packaging from households would end up in plastic collection and thus in a waste plastic refinery.

At the refinery, packaging is sorted into different types of plastic, washed and melted into pellets, which are sold as raw material to manufacturers to be turned into new packaging and plastic products. The recycling process works, but waste is also always generated during the process. The amount of waste depends on the plant and the composition of the plastic being processed. It’s a good result if 50–60% of the plastic entering the plant can be processed into raw material.

The likelihood of plastic packaging waste being recycled, together with the efficiency of the process as described above, means that 40% of plastic packaging waste from households is recycled into raw material. In reality, the recycling rate of non-deposit plastic packaging waste from households is much lower. A vast majority of those who state that they recycle this type of waste ‘almost always’ only manage to recycle well under five out of ten pieces of plastic packaging. People need to be more enthusiastic about recycling if we are to reach the recycling target.

Could we aim to recycle all of our plastic packaging waste – or at least eight packages out of ten? This would help us reach the recycling targets, and we could happily say that we recycle our plastic packaging ‘almost always’ or ‘quite often’.