Two-thirds of plastics used to package foods go to landfill or are incinerated, town hall chiefs have said.

Around 525,000 tons of plastic pots, tubs and trays are collected from UK households each year, but just 169,145 tons can actually be recycled, analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) shows.

The LGA says councils are doing everything they can to tackle plastic waste, with 99% of local authorities collecting plastic bottles for recycling and 77% picking up pots, tubs and trays.

But packaging for food can be made from a variety of plastic molecules called polymers, which need to be separated out to remove low-grade and non-recyclable types of plastic such as polystyrene.

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Some packaging uses different plastics, such as the body and lid of a yoghurt pot, while fruit and vegetable punnets are made from three types of polymer, and microwave meals are cased in black plastic which cannot be easily sorted.


The analysis comes after Sky News documentary Dirty Business revealed it was more lucrative to export British plastic recycling than process it in the UK.

To help increase recycling, town hall chiefs want manufacturers to stop using the mixture of plastics and are urging the government to consider a ban on low-grade plastics.

Judith Blake, LGA environment spokeswoman, said: "It's time for manufacturers to stop letting a smorgasboard of unrecyclable and damaging plastic flow into our environment.

"We've been calling for producers of unrecyclable material to develop a plan to stop this from entering the environment for years.

"That needs to happen urgently, but the government should now consider banning low-grade plastics, particularly those for single use, in order to increase recycling."

A spokeswoman from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Our recycling rates are rising, less waste is now sent to landfill and separate food waste collections are increasing.

"However, there is much more to do. That's why we are we are working with industry to improve the nation's recycling rates further, including by making more products recyclable."

'We use plastic without a thought'

The LGA listed five plastic packaging issues:

1. Margarine and ice-cream tubs use polypropylene, which is extremely difficult to recycle, but they could be made with the plastic used for water bottles which can be easily recycled.

2. Microwave meal and meat packaging often uses black plastic that cannot be easily scanned and sorted, but changing the colour of these trays could lead to a rise in recycling.

3. Fruit and vegetable punnets are made of three polymers, so councils are calling for a simpler design using recyclable materials.

4. Yoghurt pots use a mixture of two polymers, polypropylene and polystyrene, which are difficult to recycle but some companies now use the same material as used for plastic bottles, making them easily recyclable.

5. Bakery goods trays use two hard-to-recycle polymers, but more recyclable materials are available to store baked goods.

:: Sky's Ocean Rescue campaign encourages people to reduce their single-use plastics. You can find out more about the campaign and how to get involved at www.skyoceanrescue.com