food packaging and waste - what do we really recycle?

According  to the Recycling Association- the hardest items to recycle are

Pringles Crisp packets and Lucozade sports Drink bottles

 But how much do we recycle and what are the real problems?

 Get some facts from these resources

UK government official waste and recycling statistics.

they have annual data on local authority collected household recycling waste by weight, also information on the percentage recycled,

This is based on anual Waste Data Flow raw data

Manufacturers

The National Packaging Waste database is for registered suppliers of packaging its public area also gives information on UK standards, agreements . it also has some data on packaging accepted for recycling and producer compliance

Wrap is a registered charity which seeks to reduce waste. It produces resources for manufacturers 

Its website has surveys with opinions from the Food and Drink Federation.

 the FDF also have similar reports on their website

 What do consumers do and think?

RECycling Of Used Plastics Limited (RECOUP) is a registered charity and not-for-profit member based organisation.  RECOUP works in collaboration with all stakeholders to promote, develop, stimulate and increase the levels of plastics recycling within the UK.Its website has information on household collection and recycling of plastics plus surveys of consumers.

WRAP also has surveys on attitudes.

International studies - how does the UK compare?

Good starting points are Eurostat which has interesting time series rates for household waste generated and recycled in EU nations over the last ten years

UN has broader statistics on municipal waste and recycling

It is also worth searching the UNEP website for books and reports on waste management