Councils call for help as they give up on recycling

PLASTIC manufacturers should face charges to cover rubbish collection costs and help clear mountains of waste, councils have demanded.

A decision by China to ban imports of waste plastic means huge backlogs are building up and the value of the waste, which would normally be sold to recycling companies, has collapsed.

As a result several councils are giving up on collecting and recycling plastic separately which means an increasing amount is being burned for energy or buried in landfill.

Just this week, it emerged Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Southampton City Council were closing a number of mixed plastic recycling banks under plans to burn it rather than recycle.

A company that supplies 50 plastic banks to the two councils and many more to others has stockpiled around 40 tons of plastic since July because there is nowhere to get rid of it. Similarly, Swindon Borough Council plans to advise residents to put mixed plastic into their normal rubbish, where it will be sent for incineration, instead of recycling bins. Many other councils are expected to follow suit.

Council leaders are calling for manufacturers to contribute more towards local authority costs for processing recycling and to reduce the amount of material such as black plastic trays which is used.

A snapshot poll by the Local Government Association found one in five councils has felt a direct impact from China’s moves to restrict imports of waste plastic and mixed paper. Not only has the value of this waste collapsed, hitting the councils’ income, but they now have to pay more for the material to be recycled in the UK or overseas.

And the situation is likely to get worse with a number of other countries set to follow China’s lead. For example, Malaysia has imposed a threemonth ban on importing scrap plastic and Vietnam is looking at banning imports.

Some councils say their recycling costs have increased by around £500,000 over the last year as a result of the knockon effects of China’s decision to no longer accept waste plastic from around the world.

The Daily Mail has led the way in highlighting the scourge of global plastic pollution with its Turn The Tide On Plastic campaign.

Martin Tett, LGA environment spokesman, said: ‘It’s clear that the ban by China on imported waste, which could soon be implemented by other countries, could have a marked impact on councils’ ability to recycle.

‘It’s essential that the Government provides support to help councils offset the loss of income they face as a result of the ban and encourage manufacturers to use more recyclable materials.

‘Councils want manufacturers to play their part in the battle against unnecessary and unrecyclable waste. With the markets to sell unrecyclable material shrinking, it is essential that this is tackled as soon as possible.’

The Chancellor has already signalled that he plans to outline a series of new charges, tariffs and taxes on companies that produce throwaway packaging in his Budget at the end of this month.

Currently, businesses that produce packaging make a very small contribution towards the collection and recycling of the resulting waste by paying money into the Packaging Recycling Obligation system.

However, it is hoped the Government’s new ‘Resources and Waste Strategy’ will see big increases in these charges to encourage businesses to carry the cost of clearing up the mess.

WHILE families take ever greater pains to sort rubbish for recycling, their efforts are too often in vain. Indeed, China’s ban on importing waste plastic means vast quantities are burned or buried in landfill. Surely there’s a lucrative opening for British entrepreneurs to provide the recycling service that China no longer will.