59. How we made flexible plastic recycling valuable

Recycling flexible (or soft) plastics has long been a challenge; costly, labour-intensive, and difficult to scale. In this episode, we explore how major UK brands came together to fund groundbreaking work that helped make supermarket collection of these plastics possible, paving the way for household recycling in the future. James and Robbie, two of the key drivers behind the initiative, take you behind the scenes to share the challenges, breakthroughs, and impact of this collaborative effort. Plus, are sponges rubbish or not, is incineration really better than landfill, and why is James angry at a piece of bubble wrap?

Join hosts James Piper and Robbie Staniforth as they delve into the world of recycling, hopefully having fun along the way. One thing is for sure, they will talk absolute rubbish from start to finish.

Sign our very first pootition: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/poo

We would love you to join our community on Discord

Special thanks to our sponsor, Ecosurety

To get exclusive videos and clips, follow us on Instagram, TikTok, X, Threads or Facebook; @rubbishpodcast or YouTube: @talkingrubbishpodcast

Or you can contact James and Robbie with questions or just general rubbish musings using the email address talkingrubbishpodcast@gmail.com or by texting them via WhatsApp

Relevant links and reports mentioned in the programme can be found on the Talking Rubbish Linktr.ee

Transcripts and episodes can be found on the Talking Rubbish website

Timestamps:
Making flexible plastic recycling valuable - 03:01
Additions and corrections - 30:12
Rubbish or Not: sponges and loofahs - 39:10
Rubbish News - 44:04
Is incineration better than landfill? - 47:47
Residual Rubbish - 53:23

Music licence ID: 6WPY8Q4O2RPFIOTL