British Glass has urged councils not to stop their recycling collection services in the face of a growing threat of valuable materials being lost to landfill.

The representative body for the UK glass industry reports a number of local authorities are reducing their waste and recycling services during the coronavirus pandemic due to staff shortages.

It suggests that a fall in recycling will likely drive up the demand for carbon-intensive raw materials.

Phillip Fenton, Lead Packaging and Recycling Advisor for British Glass, said: “We must not forget the critical value of recycling, for our manufacturers who take our used glass and remelt into new bottles and jars, for our environment, with every recycling collection diverting glass from landfill and for the climate emergency, with recycled glass reducing the need for raw materials which are more carbon-intensive than recycled glass.

“With most of the country at home, kerbside collections are more important than ever. We have seen a number of local authorities such as Belfast and Wycombe halt recycling collections, but recognising the vital role of recycling, these collections have now been restarted and we hope other councils will follow their lead.”