Recycling costs surge for UK councils after Chinese ban on ‘foreign garbage’ imports
'It's clear that the ban by China on imported waste, which could soon be implemented from other countries, could have a marked impact on councils' ability to recycle'
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Your support makes all the difference.Councils are calling on companies to fund recycling costs and invest in efforts to cut packaging after many were struck by China’s decision to stop importing “foreign garbage”.
At least a fifth of local councils reported they had seen a direct impact of this ban, which restricted imports of plastics and mixed paper.
A poll by the Local Government Association (LGA) found that some of the most affected councils reported recycling costs increasing by £500,000 over the last year.
This was partly due to increased costs for processing materials for recycling.
Council leaders are calling for manufacturers to contribute more towards local authority costs for processing recycling and to reduce the amount of material such as black plastic trays, which are hard to recycle, ending up in the bin.
As well as China’s moves to ban certain materials for import, Malaysia has imposed a three month ban on importing scrap plastics and Vietnam is looking into banning them.
This has prompted concerns that recycling issues and the cost to council taxpayers could increase.
Martin Tett, LGA environment spokesman, said: “It’s clear that the ban by China on imported waste, which could soon be implemented from other countries, could have a marked impact on councils’ ability to recycle.
“It’s essential that the government provide support to help councils offset the loss of income they face as a result of the ban and encourage manufacturers to use more recyclable materials.”
He added: “The rising costs caused by this ban risk combining with ongoing and severe council funding pressures to affect other essential local services.
“Councils want manufacturers to play their part in the battle against unnecessary and unrecyclable waste.
“We are keen to get around the table with them to reduce the amount of material entering the environment which can’t be recycled.
“With the markets to sell unrecyclable material shrinking, it is essential that this is tackled as soon as possible.”
The LGA’s survey was based on a sample group of 134 councils – roughly a third of councils in England and Wales.
It comes as the UK plastics recycling industry is being investigated for fraud and accusations that it is allowing waste to end up in rivers and oceans.
Additional reporting by PA.
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