It’s not being “recycled abroad”, it’s just being dumped into the third world. China banned imports of plastic waste but no doubt plenty of other countries happily take it.
This allows first world countries to feel like it’s being effectively recycled. It’s not.
> [what are the chances] green list waste would be disposed of improperly abroad. “It would never happen – once the material goes out that’s a good enough quality, it’s too valuable.”
Good overview article, with specifics for the local market.
One nit-pick:
> Worst case scenario, which happens the majority of the time in Ireland right now, it will be recovered – which means that it will replace fuel in energy plants, or in one of Ireland’s four cement kilns.
The use of "worst case scenario" here means "at the very worst the current system will do X with it" but could be read as "the worst possible thing is done", which isn't the case, the worst case scenario is still pretty good (at least until all fossil fuels are eliminated from those processes).
- this is in Ireland, the lack of industries for recycled plastics is different than that in the US. The US is beginning to make more recycled products including plastic composite decking.
- burned in a kiln is not particularly bad; plastic is made of hydrocarbons, it's similar to burning oil with the correct equipment (emissions other than co2 are often captured or burnt off)
The mathematical calculations need to be done on the weight of plastic waste created versus the weight of “things that can be made of recycled plastic”.
I don’t know, but I’m guessing those two numbers are wildly different.
It’s not being “recycled abroad”, it’s just being dumped into the third world. China banned imports of plastic waste but no doubt plenty of other countries happily take it.
This allows first world countries to feel like it’s being effectively recycled. It’s not.