Plastic bottler recycling soars

A recent survey by the UK plastic bottle recycling organization RECOUP shows that British local authorities collected 200 million bottles (more than 10,000 tonnes) during 1998, an increase of 42 per cent since 1997. There are 186 collection schemes for plastic bottles in the UK, with 3,354 at 2,275 sites. Additionally, 2.5 million householders are served with a kerbside collection service. During the year local authorities received an average price of £140 per tonne. RECOUP forecasts collection levels of 12,500 tonnes for 2001, a fifth of the 60,000 tonnes required under Producer Responsibility legislation