Steve Morgan
Director
The UK is advancing on packaging policy, but without stronger recycling infrastructure, progress risks stalling where it matters most — turning waste into valuable resources.
Extended Producer Responsibility, Simpler Recycling and a future Deposit Return System are all designed to increase collection and accountability.
Policy momentum grows
These measures are essential, but they are heavily weighted towards improving recovery rates rather than strengthening what happens next. Policy focus often centres on collecting materials, while the systems that recycle them receive less attention.
Infrastructure gap remains
This imbalance is becoming more visible. Local authority collections are evolving, particularly with plastic film collection set to expand significantly, yet infrastructure to process these materials is not scaling at the same pace. Without sufficient domestic reprocessing capacity, valuable materials risk being exported or lost from the circular economy.
At the same time, UK recyclers continue to face intense competition from lower-cost international markets, making investment in domestic capacity more challenging.
by strengthening domestic recycling systems,
the UK can not only capture materials but keep them in circulation,
delivering both environmental and economic value
Systems under strain
Recent disruptions to the PRN system highlight how fragile the wider recycling framework can be. Delays and uncertainty have impacted recyclers’ operations and cash flow, especially for smaller businesses operating within tight margins. These pressures illustrate a broader point: the UK’s recycling system is not yet resilient enough to support the scale of change that upcoming policies demand.
A balanced path forward
Delivering a truly circular packaging system requires more than legislation alone. It demands coordinated investment across collection, sorting and reprocessing infrastructure, alongside clear and stable policy frameworks. Without this balance, there is a risk that ambitious targets outpace the systems needed to achieve them.
As an organisation working across the plastics value chain, RECOUP continues to highlight the importance of aligning infrastructure with policy ambition. The opportunity is clear: by strengthening domestic recycling systems, the UK can not only capture materials but keep them in circulation, delivering both environmental and economic value.
