Following a Freedom of Information request, home beverage carbonation system manufacturer SodaStream has released a report covering plastic bottle recycling efforts across UK councils.
According to the data provided by the company, 55% of councils did not have information on how many plastic bottles they recycled or sent to landfill (26% declined to respond to the request, with links to sites with general statistics considered a decline).
Further, just 28% of councils were engaged with local plastic bottle waste initiatives.
Drilling down on data related to plastic bottle disposal (recycled or landfill), a breakdown across the home nations saw some clear disparity. For example, while 60% and 66% of councils in England and Scotland respectively did not hold information related to plastic bottle disposal, only 32% in Wales did not have this information.
Meaning that almost 70% of those Welsh councils which did respond to the data request were aware of where plastic bottles generated across their activities were being disposed.
The data also revealed that only 14% of councils had specific plastic bottle policies for staff and elected officials. In Scotland, this figure was just 9%.
Based on the findings, SodaStream noted that councils across the UK needed to be ‘more accountable and proactive in handling, consuming and creating policies in relation to single-use plastics’.
Further, the release urged councils to ‘provide the means for households in the UK to recycle their plastic waste, while setting a ‘best practise’ example for the general public.
SodaStream has its global headquarters in Israel, with UK offices in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. In late 2018, the manufacturer of machines and related accessories for making fizzy drinks at home was bought by PepsiCo for $3.2bn.
In a related statement, PepsiCo noted that the purchase of SodaStream was part of the ‘Beyond the Bottle’ strategy, which had a goal of forming a ‘more sustainable ecosystem’.
Operating in 45 countries, SodaStream positions itself as a leading campaigner on avoidable plastic waste pollution.