International food and drink group Princes is once again increasing the recycled content of the plastic it uses, as the shrink wrap packaging on its UK manufactured products moves to 50% post-consumer recycled waste (PCRW).
Princes household brands such as Crosse & Blackwell, Branston baked beans, Aqua Pura, Jucee, and all own-label products it supplies will implement the 50% PCRW shrink by the end of 2019. With half of the PCRW material coming from UK sources Princes estimates that across the several hundred products it manufactures each year, this could help reduce the plastic sent to landfill across the UK by up to 1,000 tonnes.
It is estimated that some 1.2 million tonnes of plastic film from packaging arises in the UK waste stream every year. Of this, around two thirds are post-consumer (i.e. from household) and one third from commercial, industrial and agricultural sources.
David McDiarmid, corporate relations director at Princes, said: “In recent years, we have made huge progress increasing the recycled content of the plastic we use and this is a further milestone for us.
“Following on from our recent announcements on 51% recycled PET in our soft drinks and oils and 30% HDPE in chilled juice drinks, we have a strong position on recycled content as a business. Our ultimate goal is to reach the maximum possible recycled content for all the plastics we use as soon as we possibly can and preferably with UK material.
“We hope this helps stimulate an increase in the feed stock of plastics to the UK recycling industry as collections improve, consumers recycle more and technology advances. This is fundamental to ensuring a circular economy is achievable for plastic in the UK.”
