Regulation needed to ensure future of milk bottle recycling says Closed Loop founder

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Chris Dow has said that the Government should consider introducing regulation to force the dairy industry to use more recycled content.

The former chief executive of Closed Loop Recycling was responding to the news that milk bottle manufacturer Nampak has said that recycled content is too expensive and that it is better to lightweight the bottles (see the story here).

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Previously, Nampak had been a supporter of using recycled content and had set itself a target of using 50% recycled content by 2020.

Closed Loop Recycling was forced to close in the summer in response to the low price of oil making virgin material more economically beneficial for the dairies.

This was despite a voluntary agreement, called the Dairy Roadmap, being put in place to ensure more recycled content was used in milk bottles as well as other sustainability initiatives.

Chris Dow said: “Never before have we seen voluntary agreements fail the market like those of the dairy industry.

“All the goodwill that we started with has dissipated with the prospect of financial gain for a breach. Government regulation may be the only solution.”