BLACK PLASTIC

According to the British Recycling Association the infra red sensors at many re-cycling plants are tuned to ignore black plastic as it is the same colour as the conveyor belt. This means that it is sent to landfill or incineration although it is labelled as recyclable.

Many supermarkets are recognising this problem and slowly switching to other coloured trays which are usually more expensive. Technologist are also developing conveyor belts that are invisible to infrared so the sensors can work as intended, but developing, testing  and fitting these will take some while 

In the meantime the ourworldindata.org website shows that packaging is by far the biggest source of plastic waste across the world. Plastic packaging represents some 146 million tonnes in 2015 which is 42% of the global plastic production. This is troubling because much of this material has a single use with a working life of a only few months.

Manufactures are being offered a growing number of eco-friendly materials which could potentially replace plastics, these include cornstarch, mushroom mycelium. and seaweed. Each of these will however require significant development before they make significant inroads  into this large and well established market .

Sources. British Recycling Association British Plastics Association, ourworldindata.org and greenbusinessbureau.com

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