Domenech Aparisi, T; Casas Arredondo, J; Hsu, WT; (2020) How circular are plastics in the UK? Findings from Material Flow Analysis. In: Plastics Research and Innovation Fund Conference, Creative Circular Economy Approaches to Eliminate Plastic Waste. UK Circular Plastics Network: Hull, UK.

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Abstract

Globally, consumption of plastics has increased rapidly, reaching 350 Mt in 20171. Trends in the UK have followed a similar pattern. Total consumption of plastics in the UK is around 6.3 Mt (own estimation), considering plastic products and plastic contained in other products. A large share of this, is disposed as waste. Concerns around the use of plastics and its disposal have emerged linked to inadequate end-of-life management of plastics and increased evidence of important leakage to the natural environment, suggesting the need to better align use of plastics to the principles of the Circular Economy. Lebreton et al2 estimated that globally mismanaged plastic waste represent 60-99 Mt and estimation of leakage in Europe may be around 3.3%. In the UK, still a large fraction of plastics is sent to landfill (31%) or being incinerated (35%). A number of studies have already been undertaken to quantify plastics flows in the UK. Wrap3 provides an overall picture of plastic flows in the UK, concluding that better capturing residual plastic flows could provide cost savings in the region of £82 million. A recent study by Eunomia4 provides detail of plastic flows in key sectors of the economy. All these studies highlight important data gaps and uncertainty. Building on previous contributions, the present study has developed a comprehensive Material Flow Analysis for the UK addressing prior data gaps. The MFA provides detail of sector, waste composition and final destination. The aim of the MFA is to estimate current level of circularity of the plastic system and identify areas of inefficiency and leakage to natural systems. Preliminary findings from the analysis are presented in this paper. This work sets the basis for the definition of to measure the impact of alternative intervention pathways at different stages of the plastic life cycle, as future research steps. The analysis has highlighted important data gaps with regards to production, inter-sectoral consumption and plastic waste arisings. Estimations of plastic content in other products (textiles, electronics, etc.) relies highly on assumptions around plastic content. Data fragmentation and lack of consolidation across different databases results in increased uncertainty in the quantification of plastics flows, and, importantly plastic leakage to the environment, and thus calls for a better harmonization of production and waste data. Preliminary results from the analysis indicate that a large share of plastic waste is generated by industrial and commercial sectors (51%) while post-consumer waste, from households, also represents very important fraction of plastic waste (43%). While recycling of plastics has increased, a large fraction of plastics still ends up in landfill or incineration without energy recovery (around 53%) and this is likely to be an underestimation as plastics may also be mixed in unsorted fractions of waste not recovered. The paper concludes with a discussion of main areas of opportunity to increase circularity of plastics in the UK and some recommendations on data harmonisation.

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