Promotional Gifts and the recycling of plastics

William Porter • 23 July 2020

Your guide to what is and isn't recycled in the UK

Trade event

When choosing a promotional product it is possible to find products that are made from materials other than plastic. If your objective being to keep the additional plastic out of land fill and our oceans, then using materials other than plastic is one course of action.

Plastics do not have to be seen as the ultimate evil though, if they are promotional products which are constantly to be re-used or they are made from a plastic which is commonly recycled, then that may be regarded as acceptable. But, herein lies the problem that although most UK households have a system of collection of segregated waste, many of the plastics used are not commonly recycled. Here is a guide to plastic items, and which are commonly recycled in the UK.

Widely Recycled by Local Authorities


PET Recycling

Polyester – used for single use drinks bottles, jars and cosmetic containers. As far as promotional goods are concerned PET is used for sports bottles (clear type) and PET fibre is used for clothing and products like duffle bags and back packs. As well as being widely recycled, there are a number of recycled polyester promotional gifts including high grade sports clothing using the natural wicking properties of polyester.

HDPE Recycling

High Density Polythene , HDPE - widely used for shopping bags and milk containers. In the promotional industry the milky coloured plastic sports bottle (and many coloured sports bottles) is made from HDPE as well as the carrier bags used at exhibitions.


Some level of recycling by local authorities

LDPE Recyclcing

Low Density Polythene – plastic food bags and wraps and heavy duty plastic wrapping – used by the promotional industry for plastic carriers in the main

Polypropylene recycling

Polypropylene – widely used in food packaging and products like drinks straws. Two forms of the plastic are used in the promotional gift industry. The rigid form is used as the cap for sports bottles or rigid plastic toys like the Frisbee or desk toy. It can also come in a non-woven sheet form used for heavy duty plastic carrier bags.


Not Commonly Recycled by local authorities

We now turn to the bad boys. Those plastics which can only be recycled under certain circumstances because of their chemistry or simply cannot be recycled.

PVC - nonrecycled

PVC - two types of PVC the rigid type used in garden hoses and cable sheathing and the softer shrink wrap type used for food wrapping. You will find PVC in beach balls and all forms of inflatable. Some promotional notebooks use PVC for the cover material and you will find them at the exhibition hall used for the plastic badge holders. Not only non-recyclable buy when it burns it gives off quite noxious fumes.

recycling - other plastics

Polystyrene – used in a foamed form for packaging and also as rigid plastic. In the promotional gift market cutlery is made from polystyrene and the barrel of many pens is made from polystyrene.

Other non-recyclable – other plastics which are really tough to recycle include polycarbonate and version like the brand Tritan. These are used in sports bottles, recognisable by the ultra-clear finish. Whilst non-recyclable these plastics do have the advantage of being very tough and long lasting and water bottle may last a life time and still look really good.

Another plastic is the polyurethanes that are used as faux leather for the covering of notebooks and other leather like products.

Summary of Recycling of UK plastics - infographic

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