Resources

Guide
14 November 2023

A summary of USA packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) developments in during 2023.

Initiatives:
  • Plastic Packaging
  • Eliminating problem plastics
  • Plastic packaging design
  • Film and flexible packaging
  • Waste management and end markets
  • Food and drink
  • Textiles
  • Collections & recycling
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Sector:
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Waste management and reprocessors
  • Local Authorities
  • Packaging producers
  • National government and departments
Report
24 October 2023

The 2022 Plastics Market Situation report updates on the amount of plastic packaging Placed On the Market (POM), collection rates, recycling rates, and provides an update on key developments over the past few years highlighting the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Key themes: 
  • Fall in plastic packaging placed on the market
  • Movement away from rigid plastic packaging towards lightweight and flexible plastics in the consumer sector.  
  • Domestic recycling of plastic has increased to 53%.
  • Planned recycling capacity increases will be a boost but will still fall well below current levels of plastic packaging consumption.  
  • Collection rates are improving for plastic packaging with more flexible plastic, rigid plastics, plastic bottles and PTTs being collected at kerbside. 
Initiatives:
  • Plastic Packaging
  • The UK Plastics Pact
  • Plastic packaging design
  • Global Plastics Pacts
  • Film and flexible packaging
  • Waste management and end markets
  • Market situation reports
Sector:
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Waste management and reprocessors
  • Local Authorities
  • Packaging producers
  • National government and departments
  • Non-governmental organisations
Report
18 October 2023

The Recycling Tracker is an annual survey of UK households that gathers evidence on recycling attitudes, knowledge, and behaviour. ​It is the largest and longest running of its kind, having been undertaken by WRAP since 2004. ​

The survey uses boost sampling in Northern Ireland to provide a robust, enhanced sample of Northern Irish citizens. Fieldwork was undertaken online, from 20 - 30 March 2023. A total of 5,343 interviews were undertaken UK-wide with adults who have responsibility for dealing with the rubbish and recycling in the home. This included a sample of 563 adults in Northern Ireland. The sample matches the known profile of the Northern Ireland population, with quotas set on age, gender, region and social grade.

Initiatives:
  • Collections & recycling
  • Consistency in collections
  • Service design
  • Communicating with residents
  • Contamination prevention
  • Collections and sorting
  • Kerbside collection
  • Recycling in urban areas
  • Dry materials
  • Organics
Sector:
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Waste management and reprocessors
  • Local Authorities
  • Packaging producers
  • National government and departments
Report
18 October 2023

The Recycling Tracker is an annual survey of UK households that gathers evidence on recycling attitudes, knowledge, and behaviour. ​It is the largest and longest running of its kind, having been undertaken by WRAP since 2004. ​

Fieldwork was undertaken online from 20 - 30 March 2023. A total of 5,343 interviews were undertaken with UK adults who have responsibility for dealing with the rubbish and recycling in the home. The sample matches the known profile of the population, with quotas set on age, gender, region, social class, and ethnicity.

Initiatives:
  • Collections & recycling
  • Consistency in collections
  • Service design
  • Communicating with residents
  • Contamination prevention
  • Collections and sorting
  • Kerbside collection
  • Recycling in urban areas
  • Dry materials
  • Organics
Sector:
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Waste management and reprocessors
  • Local Authorities
  • Packaging producers
  • National government and departments
Report
6 October 2023

This report details a high level market study into non-mechanical recycling technologies.

Initiatives:
  • Plastic Packaging
  • Plastic packaging design
  • Waste management and end markets
Sector:
  • Packaging producers
Webinar
3 October 2023

In this webinar the Local Authority team will get you up to speed on everything you need to know about WRAP’s Gate Fees 2022/2023 report.

Initiatives:
  • Collections & recycling
  • Recovered materials markets
  • Gate fees
Sector:
  • Waste management and reprocessors
  • Local Authorities
  • Packaging producers
Report
14 September 2023

This guide is a summary of the top actions from best practice guidance developed by WRAP, Defra, and the FSA for each highly wasted food category that industry can adopt to reduce household food waste.

Initiatives:
  • Food and drink
  • Reducing and preventing food waste
  • Courtauld Commitment
  • Food date labelling
  • Meat, poultry and fish
  • Fresh produce sector
  • Dairy sector
  • Bakery sector
  • Ambient foods sector
  • Convenience, chilled foods and frozen
  • Household food waste
  • Behaviour change interventions
Sector:
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Local Authorities
  • Packaging producers
Guide
31 August 2023

This updated yogurt guidance (Publication date April 2018, updated August 2023) is to help supply chain businesses identify and implement actions that encourage consumers to reduce their household food waste.

It covers advice and insights on date labelling, storage, changes to products, packaging design and retail.

Initiatives:
  • Food and drink
  • Reducing and preventing food waste
  • Courtauld Commitment
  • Food Waste Reduction Roadmap
  • Dairy sector
  • UN SDG 12.3
Sector:
  • Farmers and growers
  • Hospitality and food service
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Packaging producers
  • Trade associations
Guide
31 August 2023

This updated cheese guidance (Publication date April 2018, updated August 2023) is to help supply chain businesses identify and implement actions that encourage consumers to reduce their household food waste.

It covers advice and insights on date labelling, storage, changes to products, packaging design and retail.

Initiatives:
  • Consumer behaviour
Sector:
  • Farmers and growers
  • Hospitality and food service
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Packaging producers
  • Trade associations
Guide
31 August 2023

This updated milk guidance (Publication date April 2018, updated August 2023) is to help supply chain businesses identify and implement actions that encourage consumers to reduce their household food waste.

It covers advice and insights on date labelling, storage, changes to products, packaging design and retail.

Initiatives:
  • Food and drink
  • Reducing and preventing food waste
  • Courtauld Commitment
  • Food Waste Reduction Roadmap
  • Dairy sector
  • UN SDG 12.3
Sector:
  • Farmers and growers
  • Hospitality and food service
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Packaging producers
  • Trade associations
Guide
31 August 2023

This updated guidance (Publication date November 2017, updated August 2023) helps retailer and supply chain businesses identify and implement actions that deliver the greatest reductions to help consumers reduce household food waste, by explaining and demonstrating which changes to fruit and vegetable products, packs, labels and the retail environment are most effective and impactful.

This guidance has been designed in collaboration with signatories of the Courtauld Commitment 2030 and members of The UK Plastics Pact to optimise savings in plastic packaging and food waste. The collaboration is also developing a Pathway to selling more uncut fresh produce loose (‘the Pathway’) to identify which fresh produce items will be sold loose and when.

Research published by WRAP in 2022 found that adopting these actions for the five items studied (apples, bananas, broccoli, cucumber and potatoes) alone could:

  • Prevent 100,000 tonnes of household food waste each year.
  • Amount to 10,300 tonnes of plastic packaging removed.
  • This would deliver a combined emissions equivalent to 130,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Initiatives:
  • Food and drink
  • Courtauld Commitment
  • Food Waste Reduction Roadmap
  • Food date labelling
  • Fresh produce sector
  • UN SDG 12.3
Sector:
  • Farmers and growers
  • Hospitality and food service
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Packaging producers
Report
25 July 2023

Indian company Dalmia, working in partnership with Interface, aimed to demonstrate that through mechanical recycling, single-use plastic waste, destined for landfill or incineration, could be turned in to high value applications such as injection moulded car components and packaging. 

Initiatives:
  • Eliminating problem plastics
  • Plastic packaging design
  • Global Plastics Pacts
  • Film and flexible packaging
  • Waste management and end markets
Sector:
  • Manufacturers
  • Retailers and brands
  • Waste management and reprocessors
  • Packaging producers