https://theconversation.com/heres-what-happens-to-our-plastic-recycling-when-it-goes-offshore-110356
[links and images in online article]
Here’s what happens to our plastic recycling when it goes offshore
January 29, 2019 2.10pm EST
Last year many Australians were surprised to learn that around half of
our plastic waste collected for recycling is exported, and up to 70% was
going to China. So much of the world’s plastic was being sent to China
that China imposed strict conditions on further imports. The decision
sent ripples around the globe, leaving most advanced economies
struggling to manage vast quantities of mixed plastics and mixed paper.
By July 2018, which is when the most recent data was available, plastic
waste exports from Australia to China and Hong Kong reduced by 90%.
Since then Southeast Asia has become the new destination for Australia’s
recycled plastics, with 80-87% going to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand
and Vietnam. Other countries have also begun to accept Australia’s
plastics, including the Philippines and Myanmar.
But it looks like these countries may no longer deal with Australia’s
detritus.
In the middle of last year Thailand and Vietnam announced restrictions
on imports. Vietnam announced it would stop issuing import licences for
plastic imports, as well as paper and metals, and Thailand plans to stop
all imports by 2021. Malaysia has revoked some import permits and
Indonesia has begun inspecting 100% of scrap import shipments.
Why are these countries restricting plastic imports?
The reason these countries are restricting plastic imports is because of
serious environmental and labour issues with the way the majority of
plastics are recycled. For example, in Vietnam more than half of the
plastic imported into the country is sold on to “craft villages”, where
it is processed informally, mainly at a household scale.
Informal processing involves washing and melting the plastic, which uses
a lot of water and energy and produces a lot of smoke. The untreated
water is discharged to waterways and around 20% of the plastic is
unusable so it is dumped and usually burnt, creating further litter and
air quality problems. Burning plastic can produce harmful air pollutants
such as dioxins, furans and polychlorinated biphenyls and the wash water
contains a cocktail of chemical residues, in addition to detergents used
for washing.
Working conditions at these informal processors are also hazardous, with
burners operating at 260-400℃. Workers have little or no protective
equipment. The discharge from a whole village of household processors
concentrates the air and water pollution in the local area.
Before Vietnam’s ban on imports, craft villages such as Minh Khai,
outside Hanoi, had more than 900 households recycling plastic scraps,
processing 650 tonnes of plastics per day. Of this, 25-30% was
discarded, and 7 million litres of wastewater from washing was
discharged each day without proper treatment.
These plastic recycling villages existed before the China ban, but
during 2018 the flow of plastics increased so much that households
started running their operations 24 hours a day.
The rapid increase in household-level plastic recycling has been a great
concern to local authorities, due to the hazardous nature of emissions
to air and water. In addition, this new industry contributes to an
already significant plastic litter problem in Vietnam.
Green growth or self-preservation?
A debate is now being waged in Vietnam, over whether a “green” recycling
industry can be developed with better technology and regulations, or
whether they must simply protect themselves from this flow of “waste”.
Creating environmentally friendly plastic recycling in Vietnam will mean
investment in new processing technology, enhancing supply chains, and
improving the skills and training for workers in this industry.
Engineers at the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre (which one of us,
Thinh, is the director of) have been working on improving plastic
processing systems to recycle water in the process, improve energy
efficiency, switch to bio-based detergents and reduce impacts on
workers. However, there is a long way to go to improve the vast number
of these informal treatment systems.
What can we do in Australia?
While Australia’s contribution to the flow of plastics in Southeast Asia
is small compared to that arriving from the United States, Japan and
Europe, we estimate it still represents 50-60% of plastics collected for
recycling in Australia.
Should we be sending our recyclables to countries that lack capacity to
safely process it, and are already struggling to manage their own
domestic waste? Should we participate in improving their industrial
capacity? Or should we increase our own domestic capacity for recycling?
While there may be times it makes sense to export our plastics overseas
where they are used for manufacturing, the plastics should be clean and
uncontaminated. Processes should be in place to make sure they are
recycled without causing added harm to communities and local environments.
Australia and other advanced economies need to think seriously about the
future of exports, our own collection systems and our “waste”
relationships with our neighbours.
Monique Retamal
Research Principal, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of
Technology Sydney
Elsa Dominish
Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures,
University of Technology Sydney
Le Xuan Thinh
Director, VNCPC
Nguyen, Anh Tuan
Senior researcher, Environment Science Institute
Samantha Sharpe
Research Director, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of
Technology Sydney