Layla Shannon, business development director at Sherbourne Recycling, discusses the impact of increasing collection volumes on the waste supply chain, the importance of best practice recycling behaviour in accelerating the circular packaging economy, and why new advances in AI and robotics are helping providers to increase their throughputs with ease.
While England exiting the FIFA World Cup after an emphatic run to the semi-finals may have rightly grabbed every major newspaper headline, Tuchel leading his men to their best performance since 1966 is simply scratching the surface of a jam-packed summer of sport. From Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix to the Nations Championship, European Athletics Championships, Tour de France, The Hundred and the Commonwealth Games, there’s no escaping the thrill of another hard-fought tournament.
Widely touted as the best year on record for the self-proclaimed sport aficionado, such a busy schedule doesn’t just make for great TV, but is also said to positively benefit the UK economy, with consumer spending firmly on the up. Indeed, with more Brits than ever shunning soaring ticket prices for the comfort of their own homes, TV sales are up by 23%[1] and takeaway demand is up by 16%.[2] What’s more, during the FIFA World Cup alone, shoppers bought the equivalent of 314 million pints of lager from UK supermarkets.[3]
But what does this have to do with waste management, you may rightly ask. Well, recycling volumes are currently through the roof. More time spent at home means more bottles, cans, trays, boxes and packets consumed. Grocery sales are at record levels and empty packaging materials are being separated in their millions for collection at the kerbside. Figures from WRAP, citing Recycling Now and Every Can Counts,[4] puts the number of aluminium cans disposed of during the world cup at 2 billion, with a market value of £28.5 million.
A seasonal peak for resource recovery
This year’s summer of sport highlights the sheer volume of recyclable packaging that can arise when families and friends get together. With much of this material destined for collection at the kerbside, it’s positive to see increasing consumer understanding about what can and can’t be recycled. For example, one of our partner local authorities, Stratford upon Avon, tops Defra’s league table for household recycling, with awareness and education about best practice recycling said to be helping to minimise contamination and maximise collection volumes across the board.
At Sherbourne, we’ve seen the impact of the summer of sport first hand, with our MRF experiencing a 7% year-on-year increase in throughput compared to the same period in 2025, with the biggest uplift seen in drinks containers. The good news is that, despite the summer increase, we are seeing less contamination, down by 4% year-on-year.
Ensuring that the right items are placed in the right bin is important when it comes to optimising the value of waste, but technology is also making it easier to separate different fractions and maximising output quality for reprocessors. Significant investment in AI and robotics has meant that we have been able to secure UK-based markets for our waste, which results in lower carbon emissions and contributes to a circular domestic supply chain.
The day-to-day advantage of AI and robotics is that it can quickly adapt to different throughput and volumes, such as the peaks that we have experienced in recent weeks. This flexibility is key as we look forward to evolving recycling regimes, with new legislation reshaping how waste is collected.
Maximising recovery rates is vital to building resilient and sustainable supply chains for the high volume of materials that are being generated for recycling at the kerbside. As we can see the value of recycled resources can be significant and investing in the right systems to deliver what the UK needs is more important than ever.
At Sherbourne, we are seeing significant interest in how advanced technology can support the UK’s recycling ambitions. Since opening our doors in 2024, we have hosted thousands of visitors from across government, local authorities, packaging manufacturers and the food and beverage industries, as well as academia and local community groups.
Making recycling work for everyone is vital, with knowledge share and industry-wide collaboration pivotal in building confidence that the UK can lead the way in resource recovery. Using our Living Lab gives designers real world insight into how new packaging formats will perform in a state-of-the-art recycling facility.
Organisations that want to find out more about how Sherbourne Recycling is enabling advances in kerbside recycling visit www.sherbournerecycling.co.uk