The Chinese government has defended its measures restricting the imports of certain materials for recycling after concerns were voiced by several exporting nations, including the European Union and the US. And, China has confirmed that it is taking action to raise waste standards within its domestic market too.
The WTO headquarters in Geneva (picture: WTO)
Meanwhile, Simon Ellin, chief executive of the Recycling Association, has reaffirmed that the UK is in a “crisis” situation with regard to exports.
Protection
The WTO, which is based in Geneva, has explained that a meeting last week China, China confirmed it has introduced new standards on environmental protection requirements for solid waste imported as raw materials.
“According to China, the objective of the new standards is protection of the ecosystem and the environment, the protection of human health and safety, and the protection of animal and plant life or health,” said the WTO.
The organisation reported that the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan highlighted that the transition time (14 weeks) is not enough for the relevant industries to adapt to the measure. “They also warned of the effect this measure would have on the environment if recycling alternatives were not found and the waste materials end up in landfills or are burned.”
The WWTO Members involved asked China if the standards applied to domestic operators in the same way as foreign ones and urged China to look into alternative measures to fulfil the same environmental goals in a less trade-restrictive manner, the WTO reported.
China responded, explained the WTO, that its efforts to regulate imports of solid waste “go hand in hand with efforts to promote improvements in domestic solid waste treatment and disposal, and that it would ensure a smooth transition and fulfilment of transparency obligations under WTO rules.”
China now bans the import of mixed plastics and paper for recycling and has imposed a 0.5 contamination level on the import of cardboard from 1 March 2018.
Industry
Today (27 March) Simon Ellin, chief executive of the Recycling Association, said that “Contrary to expectations, we’re not overrun with stockpiled materials. Perhaps because the industry doesn’t see things getting better any time soon.”
Simon Ellin, chief executive of the Recycling Association, has asked about whether waste companies are prepared still to shoulder market risk
But, he went on to warn that there was still a crisis. “Make no mistake, we are mid crisis. Minister for the environment, Therese Coffey’s assertions that emerging markets would pick up the slack haven’t been borne out. But then we never thought they would be. For plastics, data for January shows the amount of material falling off a cliff, 20,000 tonnes less than the same month last year. The highest tonnage was exported to Malaysia, but even that figure fell by comparison to 2017.”
Low prices
And, Mr Ellin commented on the low market prices for plastic trays and mixed papers. “Another casualty of the China ban has been prices. With trays at £–50 and mixed papers at £0, we have to question the sustainability of some collections. There is little doubt that continued low prices will result in model changes. Are waste management companies prepared (or able) to shoulder the market risk, and if so, for how long?
“Or could it be that some services are taken back in house? Given the state of local authority finances, one has to wonder if that is actually possible. Either way, we need to look for new solutions, one of which could be a move back to dual stream.”
Related links
The Recycling Association
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
