Environment Agency downplays impact of China plastic ban

From 1 March, China is not accepting used PE film products, such as bags and nets, from the municipal waste stream, but an EA spokesman said the impact was "not going to be that big" because less than 1% of plastic bags were actually put into recycling.

"Most of the plastic film that goes to China is commercial waste," he said.

The spokesman did recognise that materials recycling facilities might need to control more closely the waste they collected.

"Carrier bags are often co-mingled with other waste and will have to be sorted out if it's going to China, and that is something the EA will look to take into account," he said.

Meanwhile, figures from Eurostat show the UK is less dependent than Germany on the export market for plastics waste.

The UK exported 546,500 tonnes of waste plastics in 2007, of which 21% was sent to China and 62% to Hong Kong.

In comparison, Germany exported 959,400 tonnes – 50% went to China and 13.5% to Hong Kong.

In both cases, polyethylene is the main plastic type exported.

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