Rigids Working Group
The Rigids Working Group is part of the British Plastics Federation Recycling Group. The group are aiming to:
Accelerate the rate of transition to a Circular Economy in durable products by encouraging optimum design and resource efficiency
Members of this group include recyclers of end-of-life vehicles, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and other durable products such as pipes, windows, plastic wood and containers.
Rigids plastics
Plastic is increasingly being used as the material of choice for range of durable products due to its durability, light-weight, ability to be easily moulded and opportunity to be produced in a range of colours.
Car companies are particularly transitioning to using higher levels of plastics to help with light-weighting which reduces the car’s carbon impact during the ‘in-use’ phase which is when cars have the most impact. This means that plastic waste from end-of-life vehicles this is a growing area with more complex materials being produced.
With technology within the electrical industry rapidly advancing there are high levels of consumption for electrical items as people try to keep upto date with the latest technology. Therefore, the ability to be able to recycle these products at end-of-life is essential.
Rigids plastic Recycling
Most people are engaged in plastic packaging recycling through their kerbside collections scheme and understand what these materials are recycled into. However, there is less awareness of the recycling of rigid items but there is significant amount of recycling taking place in this area.
Collection of rigid items can take place at a Household Waste Recycling Centre, via a retailer in the form of a take back scheme or may be collected when a new item is delivered/ installed. It is possible to recycle these products into new items and in some cases this can be done closed-loop with the material going back into the same product it was previously.
There is specific legislation in place for end-of-life vehicles and WEEE to help deliver material recycling and recovery. Although, there are no specific targets in place for other rigids plastics these materials are also being recycled.
Here are some examples of recycling of rigids plastics from members of the Rigids Working Group:
How AO Recycles A Fridge - Recycling the AO Way
Van Werven – How Recycling Plastics is Done
VEKA Recycling Video
What issues are the rigids working group focused on?
The Rigids Working Group are working to maximise the use of recycled content in products through promoting the benefits that using recycled material bring in terms of reducing the use of virgin material and reducing carbon emissions. There are already lots of great examples of recycled plastic being used in products including closed-loop applications. The group are particularly working to engage with designers and manufacturers on increasing the use of recycled content.
The design of products effects their ability to be reused or recycled at end-of-life. The group therefore looks for opportunities to promote design for recycling and resource efficiency to maximise the number of products which can be recycled.
In long-lasting products with working lifetimes of 10 – 40 years, the presence of ‘legacy’ chemical additives are a key concern for durable plastic recyclers. The ever-increasing number of restrictions or bans under REACH and POPS legislation is making it harder to identify and safely remove all traces of these materials in the waste plastics stream. Even if legacy materials are not completely banned, the very low threshold levels set for their continued use can be impractical to measure which effectively means they have to be eliminated. Members of the Rigids Working Group are working to highlight the need for realistic thresholds and pragmatic ways to manage this long-term transition to a more circular economy.
The group would like to encourage the use of alternatives to weight-based targets for recycling, to those which quantify the environmental benefits of recovered plastics. As plastic is light-weight this can prevent the collection of some plastics including rigids products. They also want opportunities to increase the collection of rigids products from consumers to be explored to utilise this resource.
Recycled plastics: the eco-savvy product designer’s choice
The Rigid's Working Group have produced an article 'Recycled plastics: the eco-savvy product designer's choice' which highlights the opportunities there are for any companies wanting to be 'green' to achieve this by incorporating recycled plastic. The article includes many examples of innovative projects the recycling group members are involved in.
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