Crisp Packet Recycling

Most crisp packets are made of a type of plastic – often polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE). The seemingly foil interior of crisp packets is made of a metallised plastic film that may contain a thin aluminium layer. This helps keep the crisps fresh and extend their shelf life, but are tricky to separate, which is why recycling crisp packets isn’t straightforward.

There are other forms of crisp packets such as Pringles tubes that are made of a mixture of materials. This includes a cardboard tube, foil inside, metal base, and plastic lid. These materials are recyclable by themselves but combined they’re difficult to recycle.

Crisp packets are recyclable. However, because they’re made of plastic and metallised plastic film (the silvery inside layer), they’re not often accepted in household recycling collections or with commercial dry mixed recycling. Empty crisp packets can be recycled and used to create new plastic products.

Instead of throwing crisp packets away with your household or business’ general waste, make the effort to recycle crisp packets.

You can recycle crisp packets from home at drop-off points for the TerraCycle Crisp Packet Recycling Scheme. They can also be recycled with plastic bags and soft plastics in some supermarkets and other shops that have recycling bins for such materials.

Businesses such as cafes, shops, pubs, and other organisations must arrange commercial waste collection of any crisp packets from their premises. This is because empty crisp packets produced within your company are a type of commercial waste. Schools and other businesses and organisations can also reach out to the TerraCycle Crisp Packet Recycling Scheme to recycle them.

To recycle crisp packets as a consumer, simply take empty crisp packets to a drop-off location near you – whether individual, multipack, or sharing size bags. They also accept empty nuts packets. Pop them in the box, then they’ll be transported for recycling, rather than ending up in landfill or incineration.

Businesses should contact your waste management company to find out the best way to recycle crisp packets from a commercial setting. You can also reach out to the TerraCycle Crisp Packet Recycling Scheme to find out more about recycling them.

The process to recycle crisp packets usually follows these steps:

• First, all the crisp packets are weighed and inspected for contamination.
• Using various technological techniques, the facility sorts the materials based on characteristics and composition. These techniques include manual sortation, separating by size, the sink or float test, gravity, magnets, optical sortation, and air density. These work in tandem to send material down the line for further processing.
• Materials that are non-compliant or legally required to be used as waste-to-energy are incinerated. The power generated is used by the processing facility or the local utility network.
• All other materials are sorted by category and cleaned before being sent to third-party partners. They start the process to turn your empty crisp packets into usable forms.
• Crisp packets are shredded or ground, then melted and finally reformatted into pellets, flakes, or a powder ready to be reused to create new plastic products.

These crisp packets may go on to become any number of things in their recycling journey. Some end up as plastic shipping pallets, storage containers and bins, flooring tiles, watering cans for gardens, outdoor furniture and decking, athletic fields, and even playground surface covers. The possibilities are endless when you recycle crisp packets.

The TerraCycle recycling scheme is the UK’s largest crisp packet recycling scheme, brought to you by Walkers Crisps. They offer free and easy recycling of your used crisp packets and accept all brands. There are more than 1,600 public drop-off sites nationwide – including a site within four miles of 80% of households in the UK.

Consumers simply drop off any empty crisp packets in the TerraCycle collection boxes, then they’re transported to a relevant facility for recycling. It means no used crisp packets should go to landfill.

The TerraCycle scheme accepts all crisp packets and even the multipack outer packaging. However, don’t fold the crisp packets into triangles, just leave them loose and as they are. Make sure the packets are completely empty of any bits of food waste and then drop them off at your nearest collection point.

The plastic that goes into making crisp packets is incredibly durable. This means the thousands of packets that make their way to the sea can last for over 30 years. These damage natural habitats and harm wildlife – as ocean creatures ingest tiny microplastics as they break down.

Throwing crisp packets in with general waste results in them ending up in landfill or being incinerated. In landfill the toxic chemicals from the plastics used to make crisp packets can leach into the ground and nearby water, causing contamination. Incineration releases greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and pollution.

A few facts about crisp packets and recycling are that:

• Six billion packets of crisps are consumed every year in the UK alone.
• That equates to around 16 million packets of crisps eaten each day in the UK.
• Crisp packets can remain intact for 33 years.
• In 33 years’ time, it’s estimated 200 billion more crisp packets could go to landfill.
• A man in East Yorkshire has the world’s largest collection of crisp packets – 14,200 empty crisp packets in total.

Discover more packaging waste facts.

The easiest way to reduce the amount of crisp packet waste you produce is to cut down how many crisps you buy. Turn to healthier alternatives that come in recyclable packaging or no packaging at all. Loose fruit and veg are a great idea.

Alternatively, switch from multipack and individual bags of crisps to sharing sizes instead, and limit how much you eat in one go. You could even try making your own homemade crisps to avoid packaging. However, if these aren’t practical then simply recycling crisp packets when you’ve crunched through them will help protect our planet.

More ideas about how to reduce waste.