Plastic Waste Shortage Could Hinder EU Targets
A lack of sorted plastic waste is negatively influencing the tasks of plastic recyclers across Europe, the association Plastic Recyclers Europe (PRE) has reported.
The organization claimed that the lack of product was “unforeseen” as the EU has been registering a decline in waste exports over the previous few years. Influenced by the Chinese ban and more stringent guidelines set out by the Basel Convention, the exported waste fell from 3Mt in 2014 to 1Mt in 2021.
Investment
This was combined with upscaling facilities, causing 60% growth in four years. The plastic recycling industry invested EUR1.5 bn (₤ 1.3 bn) into reusing capacities in 2020, which increased 1.1 Mt of installed capacity compared to the previous year. The investment since 2017 came up to a total of EUR4.9 bn (₤ 4.25 bn).
Despite the development and regardless of the expanding price of recycled materials, recyclers report obtaining “no significant extra quantities of waste“.
Ton Emans, head of PRE, said: This circumstance can decelerate the shift towards a full plastic circularity. “He continued that despite the “huge financial investments” into plastic recycling capacities on the continent, without stable, high-quality input products, the market could struggle to get to the recycling targets.
“Robust sorting and collection infrastructure is a must to increase stable feedstocks for European recyclers,” he said.
Collection
Europe presently gathers 30Mt of waste from numerous streams, with 9Mt of plastic waste collected for sorting.With the rest either incinerated or landfilled, “enhancing the collection destined for recycling continues to be one of the crucial measures”.
PRE also explained that the statistics demonstrate 20Mt gap in the quantity of waste that is produced versus what is put on the market.
The association required a clear report on waste generation, collection, and sorting, so that lost quantities can be pinpointed and recycled.
Read the original article on Lets Recycle.
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