Recycling is best option for biopolymer disposal, says Wrap

Wrap has updated its 2006 ‘Environmental Benefits of Recycling’ report on the environmental impact of the recycling, landfill and incineration with a review of 55 life-cycle analyses.

The update looks at paper and card, plastics and biopolymers in packaging, as well as wood, textiles and food and garden waste.

Wrap environmental policy manager Keith James said that for cardboard and plastics recycling remained the best disposal method.

“With new recycling technology such as hotwashing, we’ve got stronger evidence that recycling is the preferable option for plastics,” he said. “If paper collected is of high quality then recycling is the preferable option.”

James admitted that Wrap had not expected recycling to be the favourable method for disposing of biopolymers. “Much of the emphasis has been on making them compostable, but if they can be made recyclable it would give greater environmental benefits,” he said.

Going forward James said it was important to focus on recycling and look at all the options from energy-from-waste (EfW).

“There will be a need for a lot more recycling and to make sure we get the right EfW technologies for the environmental benefits,” he said.

The study, which was carried out at the end of last year, looked at a range of waste management technologies including composting and energy from waste (EfW) technologies such as anaerobic digestion, pyrolysis and gasification.

The executive summary of the report can be read by clicking here.

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