FPA: UK recycling infrastructure facing growing pressure amid policy changes
Posted on May 20, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingThe Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA) says industry figures are warning that parts of the UK recycling infrastructure are coming under increasing pressure as rising operational costs, tighter regulation and new collection requirements continue to reshape the sector.
Source: FPA: UK recycling infrastructure facing growing pressure amid policy changes
The FPA said: “Delivering a more circular packaging system will require continued investment across the entire recycling chain, including collection, sorting, reprocessing and end-market development. Regulatory change and infrastructure development must evolve together if long-term recycling and circular economy objectives are to be achieved effectively and sustainably.”

How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter?
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