There is no technological silver bullet to resolve the challenges of recycling plastic waste. We welcome the work of the previous Government and industry to strengthen the mechanical recycling sector. However, it appears likely that this will need to be supported by other technologies in order to create a circular economy and sustainably manage flexible and other hard-to-recycle plastics. This is likely to involve the application of chemical recycling and compostable packaging in distinct are...

There is no technological silver bullet to resolve the challenges of recycling plastic waste. We welcome the work of the previous Government and industry to strengthen the mechanical recycling sector. However, it appears likely that this will need to be supported by other technologies in order to create a circular economy and sustainably manage flexible and other hard-to-recycle plastics. This is likely to involve the application of chemical recycling and compostable packaging in distinct areas where mechanical recycling is not a good solution: such as potentially using compostable packaging for food-contaminated products. Type: conclusion | Number: 20 | Paragraph: 98 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: The government will publish the ‘Waste Infrastructure Roadmap’ this year. On the role of chemical recycling, WRAP has published a Plastic Waste Hierarchy6, commissioned by Defra, that clearly shows that chemical, or non-mechanical, recycling is a recycling activity,