Campaign to introduce industry-standard Recycled Plastic Rating

A campaign has been launched to introduce a new Recycled Plastic Rating showing the amount of recycled plastic content in packaging. The aim is to empower consumers to force manufacturers and shops to adopt better environmental practices.

‘Generation Z’ children, their parents and businesses unite today, Friday 20 September, alongside Greta Thunberg’s London Global Climate Strike, to lobby businesses and the Government to get behind the new Recycled Plastic Rating (RPR) trust mark.

There is a lot of confusion amongst consumers, with more than 28 different marks on what is, and what is not, recyclable. The move to launch the new RPR follows research that reveals that 79% of people support clearer labelling of plastic packaging to help them determine its impact on the environment (Populus) and allow them to vote with their pockets when it comes to purchasing behaviour, such as for grocery and soft drink products.

Mark Jankovich: ‘We’ve spoken to a number of companies, academic bodies and NGOs and they agree that we should unite behind one mark that consumers can trust.’

The entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Jankovich is the driving force behind the campaign alongside his eco-cleaning product company Delphis Eco, which was the first to pioneer the use of 100% recycled HDPE plastic packaging from single-use plastic in 2017 across all its products.

Speaking about the initiative, Jankovich said: “The overall aim of the campaign is to radically simplify, from 28 possible options to just one industry standard, the Recycled Plastic Rating which consumers need to look out for when buying goods, giving them total control at the point of purchase. We hope the Government will take action and make the new RPR mandatory on all packaging; encourage the acceleration of how single-use plastic can be given a second life; and increase scrutiny of exactly how plastic is recycled in the UK.

“Having a rating which shows the amount of recycled plastic content in the packaging we buy will instantly give consumers the power to vote with their wallets and chose packaging that is fundamentally diverting plastic from landfill. The RPR will enable consumers to see, at a glance, the exact plastic credentials of products they are purchasing.”

Jankovich added: “There is more micro plastic in the ocean than stars believed to be in the galaxy! Eight million tons of plastic, a dump truck a minute, ends up in our oceans each year (Ocean Conservancy), and has a material impact on climate change through waste processes and new production of single life plastic. We’ve got to stop this.”

He continued: “The fact that the world only recycles 9% of the plastic it makes annually means that 91% goes into landfill, the ocean or is incinerated. This is horrendous and the days of sending our rubbish to a far away land and forgetting about it are over.

“We need to turn this completely on its head and not talk about what might or might not be recyclable, but what percentage of the packaging we are buying HAS been recycled. When consumers do this, shops and supermarkets will have no choice but to package their products in more responsible packaging, resulting in the waste collectors, recyclers and Government fixing the woefully under-invested infrastructure and behaving more responsibly. This will divert millions of tons of single-use plastic from going into the environment and circle it back as a totally new product.

Jankovich pointed out that there is a 70% carbon reduction in recycling plastic versus creating virgin material. Recycling a single plastic bottle saves enough energy to light a 60w light bulb for six hours.

“We’ve spoken to a number of companies, academic bodies and NGOs and they all agree that there needs to be much more clarity and focus around what is recycled, and that we should unite behind one mark that consumers can trust,” he said. “Like the successful Fairtrade and sustainably-sourced fish marks, this will empower consumers to force shops to adopt better social and environmental behaviour.”

During Recycle Week (23-29 September) Jankovich, together with a 10m high eco-turtle blimp (trapped in an ocean of plastic), will tour the UK to raise awareness of the RPR and the importance of making these changes.

The change.org petition can be found at: https://www.change.org/p/uk-parliament-change-waste-plastic-for-good-and-packaging-as-we-know-it