UK Recycle Week 2024: Ready to be a recycling hero?

Recycle Week 2024, running from 14th to 20th October throughout the UK, puts the spotlight on recycling.

Organised by national environmental action initiative WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), Recycle Week is designed to celebrate and promote the benefits of recycling, and create opportunities for individuals and businesses to implement positive changes that help protect our planet’s finite resources.

At Klöckner Pentaplast (kp), we believe that initiatives such as Recycle Week are key in moving important sustainability discussions forward. This year's theme, ‘Rescue Me’, calls on all of us to save recyclable items from the rubbish bin, empowering everyone to be a recycling hero.

The urgency of this mission for brand owners is underlined by recent regulatory developments across the UK and Europe. In the UK, the introduction of the Plastic Packaging Tax and the impending Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations are driving businesses to prioritise recyclability and circularity in their packaging designs.
Similarly, the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) is setting ambitious targets for recycled content and recyclability across member states.

Are you a retailer, foodservice business or industry wholesaler looking to get involved, or raise your recycling game? Here are three ways in which customers are putting recyclability front and centre, helping everyone join the league of recycling heroes:

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1. Embrace innovative, recyclable packaging solutions

One of the most direct ways to help boost recycling rates is to ensure packaging is easily recyclable in existing waste infrastructure. And at kp, we understand the complexities of different markets and regulatory landscapes, allowing us to help guide our customers through changes, such as the UK's evolving recycling targets, as well as those across Europe.

Our commitment to recyclability is evident in innovations like our:

• kp Elite^®: A modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) tray for fresh protein, offering boundary-breaking, certified recyclability and manufactured from up to 100% recycled PET (rPET).
Protein Elite Beef Mince R15-50C2 Flyer

• kp Zapora^®: An innovative, certified fully recyclable padless tray that eliminates the need for unpleasant absorbent pads and their adhesive, both of which have the potential to contaminate recycling streams
Creative Zapora Elite R15 Feature 03

• kp Tray2Tray^®: This initiative is circularity in action. While PET bottles are now frequently recycled, billions of trays are still wasted every year. kp Tray2Tray^® fixes this by creating a closed loop for food packaging trays, working with suppliers to create a separate supply stream of recycled PET pots, tubs, and trays, that can be used to create more of the same. This initiative ensures PET trays and rigid films come back time and again as fully recyclable food packaging, removing the need for virgin material to enter the supply chain.

• kp Infinity^®: If you’re a foodservice supplier or vendor, consider adopting solutions like kp Infinity^®, our range of fully recyclable expanded polypropylene (EPP) packaging. kp Infinity^® is designed as a high-performance alternative to single-use polystyrene (EPS and XPS) food containers, which are not recyclable and are now banned across the UK and throughout Europe. Not only does kp Infinity^® offer high levels of user convenience, keeping hot food hot and cold food refreshingly chilled, but it can also be easily recycled in widely available polypropylene waste streams.

2. Educate customers on recycling codes

Recycling symbols can easily confuse consumers. Recycle Week is a great opportunity to demystify these codes through clear, concise education.

For instance, kp Infinity^® products are marked with recycling code 5, indicating they're made from polypropylene and are fully recyclable. In another example, now-banned EPS-based packaging would be marked with recycling code 6.

kp Infinity® products are marked with recycling code 5, indicating they're made from polypropylene and are fully recyclable.

3. Cultivate transparency in your recycling journey

Consumers love a great brand narrative and are increasingly backing businesses that are clear and transparent in their sustainability efforts. Many suppliers share their brand's recycling journey, including successes and challenges.

Some kp customers are happy to share how transitioning to kp Infinity^® has enhanced the recyclability of their packaging while reducing the potential for waste through protecting food integrity and quality. This transparency not only builds trust but also inspires customers to participate in their own sustainability efforts.

Let’s lead the charge in recycling

As we celebrate UK Recycle Week 2024, remember by encouraging consumers to be more engaged with the recycling process, we're not just rescuing recyclables from the bin – we're empowering consumers to become environmental stewards in their daily lives.

At kp, we're committed to supporting our customers’ recycling journey with innovative, sustainable packaging solutions. Our 'Packaging with Integrity' ethos drives us to create food packaging innovations that resonate positively with everyone in the supply chain, from brands and packers to end consumers. Together, we can support the circular economy and pave the way for a cleaner future.