The Recycling Association has urged the UK government to support increased investment in the paper and cardboard recycling sector.
9, a:1:{i:0;s:8:”defaults”;}, waste management rotary screening, Calls For Government To Support Cardboard Recycling, The Recycling Association has urged the UK government to support increased investment in the paper and cardboard recycling sector., Leading from China and Indonesia’s recent announcements on the ban of waste imports, the Recycling Association has urged the UK government to support increased investment in the paper and cardboard recycling sector.
According to Chemical Engineer, China has confirmed that it will introduce the ban on importing recovered fibre grades by the end of the year. In 2017, China announced a ban on waste imports that included mixed paper waste.
To further the country’s anti-pollution effort, it will ban the imports of all solid waste by the end of 2020. In May this year, Indonesia confirmed there will be a 2 per cent contamination limit on the import of paper and plastic waste.
Recycling contamination is when non-recyclable materials or the incorrect materials for a particular recycling stream end up in the system.
According to the CEO of the Recycling Association, Simon Ellin, Indonesia has plans to reduce the limit even further, down to 0.5 per cent, which will directly affect the UK’s ability to export recyclable waste.
Ellin explained that of the 8 million tons of waste produced by the UK, half of it is exported as the UK lacks the capacity to reprocess it. Previously, 3 million tonnes of waste would be shipped to China, but that will be no longer an option given the new waste import bans and reduced import quotas.
He noted that exports to Asia will continue, but the market is narrowing now that some countries have placed restrictions on imports.
The Recycling Association has highlighted the import bans from China and Indonesia to urge the UK government to support further investment for cardboard and paper recycling to achieve the UK’s circular economy hopes.
Ellin said that the investment should focus on the development of infrastructure suitable to meet the demands of the UK’s Resource and Waste Strategy to minimise waste and promote resource efficiency.
The Recycling Association would like to see the government explore options such as a pulp mill to allow the export of recycled paper pulp to UK, EU, and other global manufacturing operations. Ellin explained that when manufactured goods are purchased from Asian countries, the UK needs to return the cardboard packaging materials as pulp so that it can be repurposed.
Ellin also suggests that the UK needs to invest in the paper and cardboard manufacturing sectors to allow finished cardboard and paper products to be sold all around the world.
The Recycling Association is calling for the government to work with them to develop a feasibility study on the economics and benefits of an improved recycling infrastructure for paper and cardboard.
“The export market for paper and cardboard is, and will remain, essential to the UK economy. But we have to recognise that in a market of ever-decreasing circles, we have to find the most economically and environmentally sustainable solution for all of the paper and cardboard we consume that is manufactured outside of these shores,” said Ellin.
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