PLASTIC WASTE EXPORTS

Motion Text

That this House notes two thirds of plastic waste separated for recycling in the UK is currently sent abroad for processing; further notes that 105,000 tonnes of UK plastic was imported by Malaysia alone in 2017-18; recognises that many of the countries in the global south receiving the UK's rubbish have high rates of plastic waste mismanagement; notes that the National Audit Office warned in 2018 that millions of tonnes of plastic sent abroad for recycling may be being dumped in landfill; is extremely concerned that the sight of piles of plastic rubbish generated in the UK is becoming increasingly common across the global south; strongly condemns the practice of leaving some of the world's poorest people to deal with the UK's plastic waste; believes the Government should not pass the buck to the global south on plastic, instead dealing with our own waste on UK soil; further believes that new products should be legally required to include a greater proportion of recycled materials, thus creating a domestic market for plastics waste; and backs campaign group A Plastic Planet's calls for a complete ban on plastic waste exports to the developing world.