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MPs call for a blanket ban after finding dumping and burning plastic waste abroad has links to cancer and abnormal foetus development

British plastic waste illegally exported to Turkey has had an
“irreversible and shocking” effect on health there, MPs have been told.

A cross-party committee is calling for a blanket ban on UK plastic waste exports by 2027 after finding the “dirty trade” is leaving behind toxic
traces on foreign soil.

The illegal dumping and burning of plastic waste abroad have links to
cancer, liver disease, skin lesions and abnormal foetus development.

In a new report, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee found
the UK sends over 60 per cent of its plastic packaging waste abroad, with
38 per cent of it going directly to Turkey.

This has had a range of economic, social and health-related consequences
for the countries less able to dispose of the materials sustainably,
including both Turkey and Malaysia.

The MPs heard that “significant evidence” has emerged of British plastic
waste being dumped across the Adana province in the southeast of Turkey,
with a wide range of toxic chemicals being found in ash and soil samples.

Speaking to the committee, Nihan Temiz Atas, from Greenpeace, described
the environmental and human health impacts as “irreversible and shocking”, adding that “80 per cent of the plastics waste that we found on the field belonged to the UK”.

Committee chairman Sir Robert Goodwill said Britain has become “reliant on exporting its waste overseas” and “making it someone else's problem”.

He added: “Plastic waste originating in our country is being illegally
dumped and burned abroad. The UK must not be a part of this dirty trade
and that’s why we are calling for a total ban on waste plastic exports.

“To do this we need to reduce how much plastic we use and consume, invest
in greater capacity to reprocess our own waste and support research into
new technologies and materials.”

The report also recommended that sanctions are “considerably strengthened”
as waste crime has become a “low risk, high reward endeavour”, with
current punishments “insufficient to deter illegal activity”.

It warned that many witnesses for the inquiry, as well as other
commentators, are worried that plastic waste originating from the UK is
“still being illegally dumped and burned abroad”.

To get a grip on the issue, the MPs are calling for a ban on all exports
of UK plastic waste by the end of 2027, with a road map on how to achieve
this published by March 2023.

Despite some reduction in the use of “problematic” materials and an uplift
in funnelling recycled content into new products, the committee found
progress on tackling plastic waste as a whole appears to have stalled in
recent years.

The MPs said some targets need to be made clearer, easier to measure and
more ambitious, with a strong focus on cutting the amount of waste
generated in the first place before encouraging reuse and recycling.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “We have been very clear the UK should handle more of its
waste at home, and that’s why we are committed to banning the export of
plastic waste to non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.

“We are also clamping down on illegal waste exports - including to Turkey
- through tougher controls, and those found to be illegally exporting
waste can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine.”

Megan Corton Scott, a political campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said the
findings of the report “makes a mockery of the claim that the UK is a
leader in combating plastic pollution”.

She told The Telegraph: “It is not leadership to simply offload our
plastic problem onto other, poorer countries - leaving their communities blighted by health hazards and environmental damage that the dumping and burning of this waste causes.

“That’s why this report will be welcomed by environmental campaigners at
home and abroad - and the government must act upon its recommendations.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/11/07/plastic-waste-illegally- exported-turkey-uk-has-irreversible/

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