In 2019 and 2020, it made the news that many developed countries such as the US or the UK used developing countries as a dumping ground for their plastic waste. In May 2020, Greenpeace published a report revealing that Malaysia suffered widespread environmental contamination due to plastic waste exports from the UK and other developed countries.
You’ll be happy to hear that in January 2021, the European Commission adopted new rules on the export, import, and intra-EU shipment of plastic waste. Exports of plastic waste to OECD countries (such as Malaysia) and imports to the EU will now be more strictly controlled. Exports to non-OECD countries are now banned, except for clean plastic waste sent for recycling. Although the ban is likely to increase landfilling and waste burning inside the EU due to the lack of recycling infrastructures in place, the move should hopefully push the EU to invest in such infrastructures and recycle more, following the European plastic strategy. We’ll be watching the space!
further reading…
In 2019 and 2020, it made the news that many developed countries such as the US or the UK used developing countries as a dumping ground for their plastic waste. In May 2020, Greenpeace published a report revealing that Malaysia suffered widespread environmental contamination due to plastic waste exports from the UK and other developed countries.
You’ll be happy to hear that in January 2021, the European Commission adopted new rules on the export, import, and intra-EU shipment of plastic waste. Exports of plastic waste to OECD countries (such as Malaysia) and imports to the EU will now be more strictly controlled. Exports to non-OECD countries are now banned, except for clean plastic waste sent for recycling. Although the ban is likely to increase landfilling and waste burning inside the EU due to the lack of recycling infrastructures in place, the move should hopefully push the EU to invest in such infrastructures and recycle more, following the European plastic strategy. We’ll be watching the space!