Post-Brexit, Britain will deviate from the European Union’s ban on shipping plastic waste to developing countries, with its new arrangement of “prior informed consent”, allowing importers the option to refuse to accept the rubbish.
Waste removal in Leicester and other parts of the UK is a significant issue, as it is the second-biggest producer of global plastic waste. With Britain’s less strict environmental standards, services for industrial or house clearance in Leicester and the Midlands area are expected to help in minimising the country’s waste exports.
Based on the Basel convention’s international rules on global plastic trade, the EU has implemented the ban on unsorted plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries starting this year. On the other hand, the UK introduced this prior informed consent regulation that could increase transparency in the unregulated transboundary waste trade but could also act as a loophole open to abuse, according to environmentalists.
Director Jim Puckett of Basel Action Network stated that the EU’s plan to ban the shipment of plastic waste was known as early as April 2019, and the assumption was that the UK would follow suit. As such, the feeble control measures Britain chose to implement came as a shocker, according to Puckett, because it basically still allows contaminated and non-recyclable waste to be exported to poorer countries.
According to the September 2020 HRMC data alone, analysed by Last Beach Clean Up, the total waste shipped by the UK to non-OECD countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Turkey, and Indonesia reached 7,133 metric tonnes.
One of the activists from the Indonesia environmental group Nexus3 Foundation, Yuyun Ismawati, expressed that it is alarming for the UK to choose to push through with its poor waste management practice of treating developing countries as a garbage dump. She explained that huge amounts of UK plastic waste imports had been documented in Indonesia, and substandard recyclers, who can only deal with small-scale waste, were having to burn them in farming communities. Along with six other countries, Indonesia has requested for the UK to take back its containers of plastic waste.
Environmental Investigation Agency lawyer Tim Gabriel explained their wish to see the UK go the extra mile to ban waste exports in alignment with other 27 EU states.
A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that the government had committed to ban the shipment of all plastic waste to developing countries but did not specify the timeline for this plan. They explained that the department has already commissioned research in order to get a gauge of the UK’s recycling capabilities. They will be coordinating soon on the steps to bring to life its manifesto.
Another representative from the department, shadow secretary of state Luke Pollard, is calling on the ministers to act urgently to deliver what the British people expect, which is for the waste exports to be abolished, more local recycling to be promoted, and better measures on the climate crisis to be implemented.
While plastic waste exports are not totally banned yet, a way to help in reducing the country’s waste export is through professional waste management. Be it for domestic or commercial property, the best service for waste removal Leicester has to offer is done by Midland Waste Clearance.
With expert cleaners who can carry heavy objects and innovative waste carriers, you can be assured that your area will be spotless, and all waste will be disposed of properly. Even with such a high-calibre service, we still have the best price in town!
We can do office or house clearance in Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, and Coventry. Reach out to our friendly team so we can discuss your needs: 01164030246 or midlandswasteclearance@gmail.com.
Contact Midlands Waste & House Clearance Leicester today for a quick response.
