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Farce of the recycled waste Britain exports thousands of miles
Last updated at 01:22am on 31.03.08Recyclable waste from British households is being sold across the globe.
Nearly 13million tons of paper, plastic and metal were shipped to 75 countries last year, including Guinea, Libya and Azerbaijan, according to Treasury documents obtained following a Freedom of Information request.
With households now producing record amounts of recyclable waste, private companies employed by councils to process Britain's rubbish are unable to cope.
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Piled high: Recyclable waste is loaded on to a vessel at Liverpool docks
Instead, they sell the waste to developing countries who use it to manufacture new products.
Environmental campaigners said the millions of miles clocked up by "waste ships" would generate huge levels of carbon emissions while critics are demanding to know why councils are employing increasingly aggressive methods to meet Government targets on recycling if they can't deal with current levels.
Shadow Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "It is farcical that Ministers have resorted to exporting rubbish to places as far away as Libya."
Turkey is the most popular destination, taking 2.4million tons of metal, 260 tons of plastic and 13 tons of paper.
China is next with 1.9million tons of paper, 390,000 tons of metal and 78,000 tons of plastic.
Other bizarre destinations for British rubbish include Ghana, Vietnam and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Campaigners are worried as EU rules do not force companies to check that waste is recycled on arrival.
Dr Michael Warhurst, of Friends of the Earth, said: "Councils and businesses have a moral obligation to find out where the waste is going."
The Local Government Association said: "Councils are committed to making sure all possible recycling is done in the UK.
"But companies will exploit overseas demand for recyclable waste."
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment said: "The export of waste for disposal (as opposed to recycling or for energy recovery) abroad is illegal."
Reader views (1)
I have seen Greenwich Council waste trucks pick up recycling from public recycling depots instead of the recyling trucks they are meant to use..
I have seen at my local tip (under Bexley Council) people throwing paper, wood and other materials into the clearly marked 'this will go into a land refill' right in front of council workers who should know better than to just let them do it...in France where my Mother lives they tell you off and make you put it into the right recycling container..
Finally I have seen a private van pull up and take all the shoes & clothes from the recycling depot so I knew that my council were selling that on.
It does not surprise me that the councils/Gov are selling on our recycled waste. The amount of recycling that my household (only 2 of us!) generates in a week is about 5 dustbin bags. Sometimes I can fill a dustbin bag in a day due to the amount of packaging I accumulate from the supermarket. Why cannot we go back to how we used to do it with paper bags and bring your own basket (in France they do this too..).
We are not as advanced as we claim to be and we have a lot to learn.
- Cj, South East London
