‘EU’s absurd crusade to recycle plastic just makes pollution worse’
said the problem has been compounded by China’s decision earlier this year to refuse to accept plastic waste from overseas.
For the past two decades nearly half the EU’s annual six million tons of plastic waste has gone to China for recycling.
Now EU states, the USA and Japan are “desperately” turning to countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
The study’s author, Finnish public health expert Dr Mikko Paunio, wrote: “Since the waste management infrastructure in South-east Asia is much more primitive than in China, it remains unclear to what extent the rejected ‘recycles’ end up in the ocean or burned in the open.”
Plastic pollution is on the increase with a huge floating mass in the central Pacific.
Two years ago the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicted that at current rates there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050.
Dr Paunio said waste can be dumped en route to the Far East to avoid landfill fees in wealthy countries or dumped once there by unregulated recycling firms who want only high-quality plastic. He cited a study that said 25 per cent of plastic that ends up in the sea “leaks” from waste management systems.
“The fact that recycling in the EU (as well as in the USA, Japan and Australia) is a major source of marine litter in Asia is completely hidden,” said Dr Paunio.
He added the “only sustainable” way forward is to dispose of plastic in properly managed landfills or incinerate it.
But he said incineration is “being compromised by the EU’s new antiincineration stance”.
Solution
Critics argue that incineration destroys valuable resources and results in pollution, but Dr Paunio said modern plants, which can be used to generate heat and energy, are clean and safe.
Greenpeace UK ocean plastic campaigner Fiona Nicholls, said: “Sweeping our waste under someone else’s carpet is not the solution to Britain’s plastic problem.
“Instead of moving our plastic scrap around the globe, we should turn off the tap at the source.
“Ministers must come up with effective taxes and bans to make sure everyone takes action and producers are held accountable.”
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said recycling of plastics rose 39 per cent between 2005 and 2015.
A spokesman said it was continuing to work closely with the relevant authorities “to ensure exported waste continues to be managed to safeguard the environment.
“Our ambition is to handle more of our waste in the UK.”