End waste exports and ban hard-to-recycle plastics, urges Viridor in new report

08 Dec 2021 --- UK waste management company Viridor is calling for a ban on all waste exports and a complete prohibition on environmentally damaging packaging materials like expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

The calls come as part of a report titled Closing the loop: Viridor’s roadmap to a truly circular economy, which includes a number of pledges by the company to improve UK recycling practices.

Viridor is currently constructing a plastics reprocessing and recycling facility in Avonmouth, UK, which will reprocess over 80,000 metric tons of plastic, delivering a 90% reduction in the company’s plastics exports – equaling an 8% reduction in total UK plastics exports.

The report states that if five similar facilities were built within the UK, waste exports could be ended altogether, and hundreds of jobs created. To achieve this, Viridor says the government must make serious investments and outlaw all but a few plastic types for F&B packaging. 

Viridor’s pledges 
The report details five key pledges the waste management specialist will undertake to cut its environmental impact: 

• End plastic waste export.
• Drive an infrastructure market for recycling. 
• Expand operations to hard-to-recycle materials. 
• Extract plastics from general waste and drive novel reprocessing techniques. 
• Drive innovation and regulatory improvement to achieve complete plastic circularity.

Viridor chief executive Kevin Bradshaw remarks: “Reviewing how we extract raw materials, manufacture products and consume them is an essential but often missing element of how we need to tackle climate change.” 

“The UK’s ambitious targets for net-zero will be achieved only if we tap into the resources we all throw away today and improve recycling rates and capacity in the UK to deliver a more circular economy.”

“Ending the export of plastic waste can become a reality through stimulating infrastructure investment in recycling and reprocessing, and by working more collaboratively between industry, local and central government.” UK plastic waste exports could be ended with proper policy measures, says Viridor.

Restricting plastic types 
The report states that ending plastic waste exports would require a ban on all but the four most recyclable plastic types. This restriction would mean an end to the routine use of EPS, PVC and oxo-degradable plastics, which are among the most challenging products to recycle. 

Instead, plastic F&B packaging should be restricted to the four main, widely recyclable plastic types – polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high- and low-density polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) and polypropylene (PP), argues the report. 

Viridor says it will work with the UK government and actors across the supply chain to focus on these four plastics, simplify messaging to consumers, maximize recycling rates and minimize the risk of contamination. 

Policymakers heap praise
The plans have already drawn praise from policymakers, with the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) resources and waste minister Jo Churchill saying: “Viridor’s new strategy is an excellent example of the ambitious plans we need to see from industry if we are to move to a more circular economy, where we significantly reduce our reliance on plastics and recycle more of our waste.”

“Government action is leading the way to help businesses make this transition. Following the passage of our landmark Environment Act we are creating a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, introducing tougher controls on waste exports, and making manufacturers more responsible for their packaging.”

“Together, these measures are taking meaningful strides toward our goal of preventing all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.” The report calls for a ban on all plastics except PET, HDPE, LDPE and PP.

Plastic waste exports 
Viridor’s report follows a stream of constant outcries by environmental activists about plastic waste export, which sees a large proportion of used packaging disposed of in less developed countries, damaging human and environmental health. 

For example, a Greenpeace report found that in 2020, 40% of the UK’s entire plastic waste was dumped in Turkey. 

Often, these exports are conducted illegally. The European Anti-Fraud Office estimates organized criminal groups generate around US$10-12 billion annually through waste smuggling – similar amounts to the human trafficking trade.

https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/terracycles-tom-szaky-responds-to-incineration-expose-waste-exports-would-make-no-economic-sense.html

Recently, the EU pledged increased resources for authorities to crack down on illegal waste smuggling under the European Green Deal. In July, the EU banned EPS beverage containers and beverage cups as part of its Single Use Plastics Directive.

By Louis Gore-Langton