UK plastics federation calls for control of waste exports

The British Plastics Federation (PBF) has released a position paper, Vision for the Circular Economy, calling for tighter control over exports of plastic waste to developing countries.

Supporting a 2018 Norwegian proposal to the UN Basel Convention, which provides an avenue to control the quality of exported plastic waste, BPF said the move was in line with current efforts in the UK to increase rates of recycling.

Referring to producer responsibility regulations in the UK, the association said that the achievement of national recycling rates, particularly within the consumer packaging segment, has largely depended on the export of partially waste plastic. classified and partially processed.

“The BPF has expressed its opinion in the past on the need to reduce dependence on exports of plastic waste and, at the same time, boost investment to expand the national recycling capacity in the United Kingdom,” said the trade body in a statement of April 30.

In light of public outcry over exports of low-quality plastic waste to developing countries and the increasing ban on waste imports from Southeast Asian countries, the BPF said its position paper sets out a strategy “for a future flow of sustainable materials for plastics “.

The document, he added, proposes a set of quality criteria that can be applied to ensure that exports of plastic waste can be recycled “in an environmentally sound manner” once it reaches its final destination.