Is plastic recycling a myth? Not quite, but it is oversold. The UK recycled 57.3% of its plastic packaging in 2025 (a provisional figure), yet “recyclable” only describes a material, while “recycled” describes what actually happened to it. Small, mixed-material and flexible items sit in the gap between those two words, and that gap is where most of the story is.

I run a company that sells refillable deodorant, so I have an obvious interest here. I have kept to what published data supports and said where the evidence runs out. Recycling is worth doing; the argument is about how much weight we ask it to carry.

How much UK plastic is actually recycled?

The latest official numbers come from Defra’s UK statistics on waste, updated on 23 September 2026. For plastic packaging they show:

• 2025 (provisional): 2,108 thousand tonnes arising, 1,207 thousand tonnes recycled, a rate of 57.3%.
• 2024: 2,156 thousand tonnes arising, 1,154 thousand tonnes recycled, a rate of 53.5%.

That is a genuine improvement, and councils, reprocessors and producers deserve credit for it. Press coverage of the release notes that the UK’s packaging extended producer responsibility scheme began in January 2025, and that it is too early to judge its effect.

One thing worth knowing about the measure itself. The recycled tonnages rest on Packaging Recovery Notes and, for exported material, Packaging Export Recovery Notes held in a national database. It is a useful accounting system, but it is not the same as tracking each yoghurt pot to the product it became.

It also means roughly 43% of plastic packaging, around 900,000 tonnes, was not counted as recycled in 2025.

Where does UK plastic waste go?

A large share leaves the country. RECOUP, the plastics recycling organisation, reported that in 2023 more than 685,000 tonnes of plastic packaging was exported and declared as recycled. That was 51% of everything declared recycled that year, up from 46% in 2022. About 22% of the exported tonnage went to non-OECD countries, compared with 6% in 2021.

RECOUP is clear that exporting is not simply a failure: its position is that some export is currently needed to meet targets and reach facilities the UK lacks, while calling for more domestic capacity.

On destinations, the Basel Action Network, a campaign group, analysed UK customs data for plastic waste of all kinds (not only packaging). It reports total exports of 598 million kg in 2024 and 675 million kg in 2025, with Turkey the largest single destination in 2024 at 151 million kg, followed by the Netherlands at 105 million kg. Those are a campaign group’s figures, not Defra’s, so treat them as indicative.

The Turkey story: what is known, and what is alleged

Here is what is documented. In May 2021, Greenpeace published an investigation, Trashed, which found plastic packaging from the UK dumped and burned at ten sites around Adana in southern Turkey. The Environmental Services Association, which represents the UK waste industry, called the findings disappointing and said the problem stemmed from a minority of cases.

More recently, a peer-reviewed study in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, led by Sedat Gündoğdu of Sabancı University, measured microplastics in irrigation canals near Adana. It found concentrations up to 132 times higher downstream of recycling facilities than upstream, and linked this to illicit discharges.

What is not established is just as important. That study measured contamination around Turkish recycling plants. It did not trace the plastic back to British households, and exported does not automatically mean dumped. Most of what is shipped abroad will go to legitimate reprocessors. The system makes it hard to be certain, which is itself part of the problem.

Why small plastic items don’t get recycled

A materials recovery facility, or MRF, is a sorting factory. Mixed recycling passes over a series of screens and machines, and what falls through which holes decides where it ends up. RECOUP explains that after the first large screens, the next set of holes is typically 40mm to 50mm, with 50mm the most common. That stage exists to break and remove glass.

Small items drop through with the glass. In the industry they are called fines, and RECOUP lists examples including:

• cosmetic and make-up packaging
• bottle tops and lids
• toothbrushes
• blister packs
• coffee pods

Many are made of perfectly recyclable plastic. They are simply too small for the machinery as it stands.

Mixed materials are the second problem. A product with a plastic body, a different plastic for the cap and a metal spring is several materials joined together. Separating them costs more than the pieces are worth, so the whole thing is usually treated as waste. A deodorant stick is large enough to be caught by the screens, but its multi-part construction is the issue.

What ‘recyclable’ on a label really means

“Recyclable” is a claim about what a material can do under the right conditions. It does not say whether your council collects it, whether a sorting plant will catch it, or whether anyone will buy the result.

The on-pack label from OPRL (On-Pack Recycling Label) tries to close that gap. The scheme’s own criteria are:

• Recycle: at least 75% of UK local authorities collect it, and it is effectively sorted, processed and sold as recyclate.
• Check Home Collections: collected by between 50% and 75% of authorities.
• Do Not Recycle: collected by fewer than 50% of authorities, or not effectively sorted, processed or sold on.

The 75% threshold is also what “widely recycled” has long meant in UK packaging. It is a collection test, so a label tells you about the system on average, not about your kerbside.

The rules are also changing, and the dates have moved more than once. Under England’s Simpler Recycling reforms, councils were required to collect a core set of materials, including plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, from 31 March 2026. Plastic films and flexible packaging were due from 31 March 2027, but on 16 July 2026 Defra confirmed a delay to 1 April 2030, after industry concerns about whether viable end markets exist. The regulations are expected to be amended to reflect that.

Recyclable or recycled: what usually happens

Putting it together, here is how common items tend to fare. This is a generalisation, and councils differ, so check your local guidance.

Recycle well, then buy less

None of this is an argument to stop recycling. A bottle in the right bin is a good outcome, and the rise to 57.3% shows the system can improve. The point is that recyclability is oversold as the answer for small, mixed-material items, where the sorting reality does not match the label.

Reducing what we throw away works better than improving how we throw it away. I have written before about where UK plastic waste actually goes and why refillable beats recyclable, and I stand by the logic. But here is the uncomfortable part. A refillable only wins over a recyclable one if you keep refilling it. A case bought, used twice and abandoned in a drawer is worse than a stick that was recycled properly.

So the honest advice is simple. Recycle what your council takes, buy fewer things that need recycling in the first place, and be sceptical of any product that treats “recyclable” as the end of the conversation, including ours.

Lifelong makes a refillable deodorant applicator, with powder refills that arrive in compostable pouches. Every applicator sold removes 1kg of ocean plastic through our partner Seven Clean Seas. The Luxe applicator is £49, Vibes is £14.99 and refills are £8.99. It does not solve the recycling problem; it simply sidesteps one small corner of it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is plastic recycling a myth?

No, but it is oversold. The UK recycled 57.3% of its plastic packaging in 2025 on provisional Defra figures, so a lot does get recycled. The weaker area is small, flexible and mixed-material items, where “recyclable” on the pack rarely matches what happens at the sorting plant.

How much UK plastic is actually recycled?

Provisional Defra figures show 1,207 thousand tonnes of plastic packaging recycled out of 2,108 thousand tonnes in 2025, a rate of 57.3%. In 2024 it was 1,154 out of 2,156 thousand tonnes, or 53.5%.

Where does UK plastic waste go?

RECOUP reports that 51% of the plastic packaging declared as recycled in 2023 was exported, over 685,000 tonnes. The Basel Action Network, a campaign group, reports Turkey and the Netherlands as the largest destinations for UK plastic waste in 2024.

Is UK plastic waste dumped in Turkey?

Some has been. Greenpeace documented UK packaging dumped and burned near Adana in 2021, and a 2026 study found raised microplastic levels downstream of recycling plants there. Neither shows that all exported plastic is mismanaged, and the 2026 study did not trace the plastic to the UK.

Can you recycle a deodorant stick?

It depends on the design and your council. A simple, single-plastic body may be accepted where tubs and pots are collected, but sticks with a wind-up mechanism, a separate cap or metal parts usually are not. Check your council’s guidance and any on-pack label.

What does widely recycled mean?

It has traditionally meant that at least 75% of UK local authorities collect that type of packaging. OPRL’s current “Recycle” label uses the same threshold and adds that the material must be effectively sorted, processed and sold as recyclate. It does not guarantee that your own council takes it.

Why can’t small plastic items be recycled?

Sorting plants use screens with holes of around 40mm to 50mm to remove glass, and small items fall through with it. Bottle tops, toothbrushes and cosmetic packaging are common examples, even when the plastic itself is recyclable.