Plastic Recycling in the UK
A reality check on the plastic crisis – how our recycled plastic waste weighs up to famous landmarks
The UK recycled over half a million tonnes of plastic waste during 2017 - 2018. 602,493 tonnes is a lot of plastic recycling, and when we say a lot – we mean it. In fact, the total amount of plastic sent to be recycled in the UK was the equivalent to 47,600 double-decker buses roaming around our country’s roads.
However, what is notable is the progress that our nation is continuing to strive for to make a positive environmental impact on the plastic crisis.
*Landmark and recycled plastic comparisons were calculated by dividing the weight in tonnes of plastic recycled regionally by the weight in tonnes of the man-made landmark.
We used data available from wastedataflow.org to provide us with the amount of plastic sent to be recycled for every council in the England, Northern Ireland and Wales during April 2017 – March 2018, and the amount of plastic sent to be recycled for every council in Scotland between January 2017 – December 2017.
Other sources include: Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Statista.