European Parliament proposes waste export bans as environmentalists brace for industry resistance

20 Jan 2023 --- Environmentalists are celebrating the proposals made by the European Parliament to update the bloc’s waste shipment regulations. The new laws would, if passed, ban exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries and phase out exportation entirely within four years. 

Following a plenary debate on Monday evening, the report was adopted Tuesday with 594 votes in favor, five against, and 43 abstentions. Proponents say the measures would stimulate a circular economy and protect poorer nations from being exploited. 

Greenpeace has accused Western nations of “waste colonialism” for exporting packaging trash to countries lacking proper disposal infrastructure. It is estimated that between 400,000 and one million people die in the Global South because of diseases related to waste and plastic pollution, equating to up to one person every 30 seconds. 

Sedat Gündoğdu, chief scientist of Turkish Microplastic Research Group, which investigates these issues, tells PackagingInsights that “although this law could come out with more robust and more precise statements (for example, a shorter adaptation time), it is still a very important step in its current form.” 

“The EU now understands that plastic waste is a problem and has to deal with them following the Basel Convention rules. This situation will directly affect Türkiye because Türkiye’s waste management infrastructure was not developing due to the plastic waste of the EU.”  

Exports of waste to developing nations pose a threat to human and environmental health.Combating waste crime
apporteur Pernille Weiss of the European People’s Party, which is backing the motion, says: “Our ambitious position in the coming negotiations with member states has just been endorsed by a broad majority in plenary. We must turn waste into resources in the common market and thereby take better care of our environment and competitiveness.” 

“The new rules will also make it easier for us to combat waste crime inside and outside the EU. With the export ban on plastic waste that we suggest, we are pushing for a much more innovative and circular economy wherever plastic is involved. That is a true win for the next generations.” 

Gündoğdu asserts that if the new laws are implemented, it could “eliminate industrial pressure.” However, he expects that the industry “will attack this situation, which has already passed.”

“The entity called FEAD (European Waste Management Association) has already begun to grumble, and there is probably already a lobbying activity going on in this regard.”

“Currently, critical meetings are being held for the UN plastic treaty. Therefore, if we want to eliminate the issue of waste, a plastic economy that is more transparent, contains fewer chemicals, and produces less should be built. In fact, if we do not shrink the plastic-based economy as much as possible, we will have to deal with these problems later on,” Gündoğdu continues. 

UN global plastics treaty 
In December, the first intergovernmental committee meeting (INC-1) by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to negotiate the terms of an internationally legally binding plastics pollution treaty was concluded. 

Critics of the proceedings accuse the INC-1 of “dragging its feet” and failing to tackle several fundamental topics on the treaty’s formation over the coming two years.

UN nations have already divided into camps within the negotiations, with the US reportedly creating a coalition along with Australia and Japan. The coalition’s agenda is to keep the treaty’s focus on individual countries’ efforts. 

However, environmentalists warn that the idea of keeping the responsibility of limiting plastic waste in the hands of countries themselves, without significant measuring benchmarks, could cause nations to fall short of significant waste reductions.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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