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EuPR calls to reduce waste exports to China

The European Plastics Recyclers association EuPR has called for European waste plastics collection systems to reduce the export of waste to the Far East in the light of China's decision to accept more plastics waste imports.

From August 1, says EuPR, the Chinese authorities have accepted the import of additional plastics waste into their country, but this new policy will deteriorate the fragile state of European recyclers.

European exports of plastics waste rose by 250 per cent from 2000 to 2008 to reach 2·27 million tonnes. 87 per cent of this is going to China and the financial downturn seems to have worsened the situation, with the first quarter of 2009 showing a 33 per cent increase in export compared to the previous year.

The association condemns this increasing export rate on ecological, fiscal and ethical grounds. It says that greenhouse gas emissions increase significantly if the plastics waste is recycled in the Far East compared to Europe from the additional transport involved (going as waste and returning as a product) and to the inefficient energy mix of these countries. EuPR quotes a study by Wellman International that says "recycling nearly 300,000 tonnes of PET bottles into fibre in Europe, rather than in China, cuts global emissions by a further 175,000 tonnes a year".

Fiscally EuPR says that taxes raised in Europe on sales to customers and penalties for rubbish disposal are partly indirectly supporting Far East recyclers who have lower costs than those in Europe. Instead, it says, "This huge amount of money should be used to increase the collection systems' efficiency, permitting better recycling rates at a lower cost and with a lower environmental impact."

The ethical aspect is the lower social conditions in the Far East. "Europeans cannot tolerate that their waste is treated by companies that do not apply with European social standards, working security and, in the worst cases, child labour."