Organics Recycling

Consultancy Resource Futures was contracted by the WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) to carry out a project to investigate the quality requirements of UK reprocessors and their relationship to the output from UK materials recovery facilities (MRFs). The authors found that material quality standards are heavily dictated by reprocessors and, despite some written guidelines, there is no standard test for MRF output quality.

In particular, the project aimed to assess the following:
 the quality levels required by UK reprocessors across a range of materials
 the extent to which quality requirements are material specific or are specific to individual reprocessors
 whether these requirements are clearly stated in written form, or, if not, what form they take (informal client- supplier relationships, specified in contracts etc)
 how quality is measured and assessed, both by MRFs (output quality) and reprocessors (input quality)
 whether MRFs are typically able to meet the quality requirements set out by reprocessors
 whether reprocessors' decisions to accept or reject loads are perceived by MRF operators as fair and well managed
 whether demand exists for the introduction of more formal material quality thresholds and methods for determining whether these have been met.

If demand for formal thresholds was assessed as high, the project was to make initial recommendations as to how these might be established. The key project deliverables were:
 a desk-based review of current reprocessor quality standards
 a questionnaire for MRF operators and reprocessors to establish what quality control procedures are typically in use, perceptions of MRF output quality and reprocessor quality specifications and opinions on the value of material quality thresholds and other potential schemes to improve or guarantee MRF material quality
 site visits to reprocessors to gain insight into how input quality is managed and the consequences of low quality input
 convening a high-level steering group with representatives from MRFs and reprocessors across the range of materials to coordinate and shape the direction of the project.

A combination of desk based research, consultation with the steering group and responses to the MRF and reprocessor questionnaires were able to answer some of the initial research questions.

The material quality standards in place are very much specific to reprocessors, with most issuing a written quality specification. Where standards and specifications (eg BS EN and PAS) have been published, these are generally borrowed from or adapted as suits the needs of reprocessors. As a result, not only are the standards for a given material variable, but they are also phrased and expressed quite differently depending on the specific reprocessor.

While most reprocessors had a written quality specification document, this was not always the case, with a substantial minority of reprocessors relying on occasional, informal inspections, with no formal method of assessment or yardstick to measure against, and informal supplier-client relationships functioning in place of a quality management system. This was more common in some sectors (e. g. glass, steel and mixed plastics) than others.

There was a disjunction between MRFs' claims about being able to meet quality standards and reprocessor claims of the proportion of MRF output that is of suitable quality. Across all materials without exception, most MRF operators claimed that their material "always" met the required standard, while almost all of the remainder claimed to "usually" meet the standards. By contrast, the majority of reprocessors across all materials said that MRF output only "sometimes" met their standards, with only one respondent saying that it "always" did.

Most MRF operators said that their UK customers produced a clear, written quality specification. The UK compared well with overseas buyers in this respect, with more MRFs saying their UK customers had clear written standards than saying their overseas customers did. In addition, when asked if they believed UK reprocessors vary the quality of material they would accept depending on their demand, the majority of MRF operators said they did not believe this to be the case. This suggests that most MRF operators believe UK reprocessor standards to be reasonably clear and consistently supplied. It should be noted, however, that anecdotal evidence from several MRFs suggested that a minority of MRF managers do believe that reprocessors are prepared to move the goalposts depending on demand.

Copies of the report MRF output material quality thresholds (0.4 MB) can be downloaded from WRAP's website at:

http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/MRF_Output_Material_Quality_Thresholds_Report.844e3fed.8210.pdf