United Kingdom (UK) Plastic Waste Management Market Overview, 2028

Every year, more than 15 million tonnes of household trash are dumped in landfills in the UK. That weighs as much as burying more than 100,000 adult blue whales. Garbage-filled ground is unsightly. Additionally, it has serious negative effects on the ecosystem. The worldwide plastic catastrophe is mostly due to the UK. Companies in the UK are heavily reliant on disposable plastic packaging, particularly in the food retail industry. The UK produces almost as much plastic waste per person as any other nation, second only to the USA. 8 An estimated 5.2 million tonnes of plastic garbage were produced in the UK in 2018 (enough plastic was produced to fill Wembley Stadium six times).
 
According to the research report “UK Plastic Waste Management Market Overview, 2028, published by Bonafide Research, the market was valued around USD 600 Million in 2022. Recycling dominates the market for plastic waste in France based on service type, which comprises collection and transportation, recycling, incineration, and landfills. When recycling rates and consumer attitudes were considered, Newport in Wales was deemed to be the best UK city for recycling. Compared to the national average of just 41%, it sends nearly two-thirds (67%) of its household garbage for reuse, recycling, or composting. The main and most common method of disposal in the United Kingdom is landfill. Other methods are also used such as Incineration and anaerobic digestion. The government supports comprehensive and frequent rubbish and recycling collections and the major waste reforms set out in the Bill will support the achievement of a 65% recycling target for municipal waste by 2035.

It is estimated that UK households throw away a staggering 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging a year, averaging 66 items per household per week. These are mainly food packaging items, such as snack bags and fruit and veg trays. In 2021, 2.5 million metric tons of plastic packaging waste were generated in the UK. The UK exports around 60% of the over 2.5 million tonnes of plastic packaging waste it creates Plastic waste dumps in Malaysia. The UK produces more plastic waste per person than almost any other country, and a huge amount of it is sent abroad, most of it going to countries that aren’t equipped to handle it. According to the research British plastic waste being dumped and burned in Turkey – on the roadside, near waterways and in the open air, and people nearby have reported serious health problems. When purchasing a beverage in the UK, consumers must pay a 20p deposit if the container is made of PET plastic, steel and aluminium, or glass. When customers deliver the empty container to one of the tens of thousands of return locations, they will receive their money back.

Starting in October, England will ban single-use plastic plates, trays, bowls, cutlery and some polystyrene cups and food containers. The government said that England uses an estimated 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery and 721 million single-use plates per year, but that only 10 percent are recycled. There are already restrictions on the supply of plastic straws, drink stirrers, and cotton swabs in the UK, as well as a plastic packaging tax on any packaging that contains less than 30% recycled plastic. The UK has also formerly co-sponsored the proposal to prepare a new treaty and is a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of more than 30 countries calling for a target under the treaty to stop plastic from flowing into our lands and ocean by 2040.

Some of the plastic waste management companies in UK are Entire Recycling – Business Recycling & Waste Management Company, Recycled UK Ltd, MV Recycling UK Ltd, THG Eco - Preston Plastics, Plastic Expert, Repro Plastics Ltd, 3R Technology UK Ltd, WRC Recycling, Agecko UK Ltd, Roydon, EF PLASTICS UK LTD and many more.

Considered in this report
• Geography: UK
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

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Manmayi Raval

Research Consultant

By Service Type
• Collection & transportation
• Recycling
• Incineration
• Landfills

By Source Type
• Residential
• Commercial & institutional
• Industrial
• Others

By Polymer Type
• Polypropylene (PP)
• Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
• Polyurethane (PUR)
• Polystyrene (PS)
• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
• Others

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The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducted trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.
 
Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to plastic waste management market, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.