In Greenpeace‘s recent Trashed report, it was found that 210,000 tonnes – or 40% of the UK’s plastic waste – in 2020 was exported to Turkey (something the BBC reported on too). But instead of being recycled, investigators found significant amounts were dumped in fields, by the roadside, in waterways or burned illegally.
Greenpeace investigated ten sites across southern Turkey and found packaging from leading UK supermarkets. And in one instance, packaging from a coronavirus vaccine, proving some of the waste is only a few months old.
Greenpeace pulls no punches in their report and lay the blame solely at the feet of the UK government, saying:
“In its 2019 manifesto, the UK government committed to introducing a ban on plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries. But instead of reducing the amount of British plastic waste that gets exported, a ban that only applies to non-OECD members simply drives more plastic waste to OECD members.
In 2020, only 20% of the UK’s plastic waste was exported to non-OECD countries, while 80% went to countries like Turkey, Malaysia and Poland.”
To compound this statistic, in 2020, Malaysia rejected 150 shipping containers of illegally imported plastic waste and requested they return to their country of origin – of which 42 containers belonged to the UK.
Malaysian Democratic Action Party politician, Yao Bee Yin, said they were turned away to “ensure Malaysia didn’t become the garbage dump of the world.”
In response, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said:
“It is clear that the UK should handle more of its waste at home. That’s why we’re committed to banning the export of plastic waste to non-OECD countries and clamping down on illegal waste exports – including to countries such as Turkey – through tougher controls
The UK is a global leader in tackling plastic pollution and our proposals for extended producer responsibility for packaging, a plastic packaging tax and mandatory electronic waste tracking will boost recycling rates, reduce waste and cut crime.”
But Greenpeace has a suggestion on how to irradicate this problem completely.
Their suggestion?
Reduce the use of single-use plastics.
They estimate that by reducing single-use plastics by 50%, the UK could end waste exports and significantly reduce the number of plastics that need to be incinerated or go to landfill.
It sounds a good idea, but whether it will happen remains to be seen.
We can all do a lot on a personal level, but what about businesses and corporations?
One of the best things business leaders can do is talk to Certified Sustainable.
Why?
Because we produce comprehensive Sustainability Impact Reports detailing the environmental impact of the day-to-day operations of businesses. We then develop technical solutions and real-world strategies that make a business measurably more sustainable.
No fluff. No PR gimmickry. Just real-world change.
