Recently the BBC aired an eye-opening three-part series titled ‘War on Plastic with Hugh & Anita’. The programme explored the ever-growing plastic problem, where it’s coming from and what we can all do to try and prevent and solve it.
As a leading expert in the supply and management of packaging globally, we believe we share a responsibility to respond to the challenges around recycling plastic waste. However, it’s also important to be honest and realistic about the tangible, sustainable changes we can deliver today, with what we have.
Current waste streams in the UK do little to assist the sustainable and environmental ambitions of companies. On top of that, our throwaway culture is a huge factor. It’s our demand for convenience and individual consumer habits that contribute to how much packaging is produced and where it ends up.
That’s why we believe it’s also our duty educate others and share the knowledge we have acquired due to our many years’ experience in the industry. We aren’t afraid to champion plastics and their positive (and often necessary) contribution to the food supply chain.
Rather than villainising a material that prolongs shelf life, protects produce in transit and prevents unnecessary food waste (a huge driver of climate change). It’s important to focus on the bigger picture and that’s driving more cohesion in recycling and educating consumers through initiatives.
We’ve found that there’s a lot of confusion and little information surrounding recycling and plastic. In particular, what can and cannot be recycled and where these materials go once collected.
Therefore, we’re helping our clients and their consumers by using our blog to answer some of the most common packaging queries put forward to us.
If you’ve ever wondered where to recycle your pet food packaging or other hard-to-recycle items, keep reading to find out.
TerraCycle – The Pet Food Recycling Programme 
Pet food packaging often consists of different layers of plastic. This makes it difficult to decipher which bin it belongs in once the product reaches end of life.
Referring to statistics in our latest blog, even when plastics are recyclable and put in a recycling bin, 70% still ends up in landfill or incinerators causing huge emission problems, or ending up in the sea.
That’s why we’re turning our attention to TerraCycle. They are an innovative recycling company that has become a global leader in recycling typically hard-to-recycle waste.
TerraCycle offers free recycling programmes funded by brands, manufacturers, and retailers to help you collect and recycle your hard-to-recycle waste.
TerraCycle is Eliminating the Idea of Waste® by recycling the “non-recyclable”. Whether it’s coffee capsules from home or pens from a school, they can collect and recycle almost any waste.
The company partners with individual collectors such as yourself, as well as major consumer product companies, retailers, manufacturers, municipalities, and small businesses across 20 different countries.
It’s because of these partnerships that TerraCycle is able to divert millions of pounds of waste from landfills and incinerators each month.
How does it work?
TerraCycles pet food recycling programme allows users to recycle all pet food plastic pouches & flexible plastic bags. First you must sign up to take full advantage of the TerraCycle programmes but It’s completely free!
The programme operates through a network of private and public drop-off locations throughout the UK. As an individual, company, charity or school, you can drop off your pet food plastic pouches & flexible plastic bags at an existing public drop-off location.
Alternatively, as soon as you are a member of the programme and when you want to post a shipment, you can download a free UPS label from your account, attach it to your shipment and then simply order a free pick-up via UPS by calling 03457 877 877 or book a collection online here.
UPS will then collect from your location. You can also drop-off your parcel at your closest UPS drop-off point, which you can find here. Participating is completely free and very easy.
TerraCycle® then reuses, upcycles and recycles this waste instead of incinerating or landfilling it. This moves waste from a linear system to a circular one, allowing it to keep circulating in our economy.
Once collected, the packaging is sorted, shredded and washed. The material is then densified into hard-granulated plastic granules that can be used to make new recycled products. Click here to learn more about the recycling process.
To date, over 202 million people are collecting globally with TerraCycle®. Over 4.1 billion pieces of waste have been diverted from landfill and incineration, raising over £44 million for schools, charities or non-profits around the world.
Ready 2 Recycle
Materials made of the same mono-material, are even easier to recycle through TerraCycle, including our new Ready 2 Recycle range.
Currently we have BOPP woven bags, stand up pouches, quad seal and flat bottom bags in PE/PE or OPP/CPP laminates. We have paper bags available in this range too.
In addition to being recyclable, our new generation of plastic packaging provides protection with higher barrier properties and extended shelf-life. This results in decreased carbon footprint in the supply chain.
Additionally, flexible plastic like our Ready 2 Recycle range, can be a more environmentally-friendly packaging solution when disposed of properly.
Using TerraCycle is easier than ever, just visit them here. Use the search bar to tell them what you want to recycle, type in your location and click to see all of their free and purchasable recycling solutions.
You can also check your local recycling options by entering your postcode here.
If you have any further queries regarding packaging, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Alternatively, be sure to check our blog regularly! We strive to use our platform to discuss the most common concerns and questions you put forward to us.
Share this blog using the social media buttons below! Let others know about the free programmes and recycling solutions that are available across the UK.
