Shipping Plastic Bottles to China Produces Less CO2 than Sending Them to UK Landfill

A WRAP study has found that selling the UK’s used plastic bottles and paper for recycling in China actually saves carbon emissions. Shipping these materials more than 10,000 miles produces less CO2 than sending them to landfill at home and using brand new materials.

The transport issue is just one factor in assessing the environmental impact of exporting materials for recycling. However, it has become increasingly important to understand, as over the last ten years exports of used paper have risen from 470,000 tonnes to 4.7 million tonnes. Exports of used plastic bottles have gone from less than 40,000 tonnes to half a million tonnes over the same period.

This increase reflects the huge rise in household recycling in the UK from 7% to over 30% during that time.

We collect more paper than we can recycle, but there is strong demand for it from growing economies, such as China, where there are not enough trees to make paper.

Plastic bottles are also much in demand from China’s manufacturing industry and there is currently insufficient capacity in the UK to reprocess them here. This study shows it is environmentally less harmful to send that material to China for reprocessing than sending it to landfill in the UK.

This study sought to answer the specific question of whether the CO2 emissions from the transport outweighed the benefits of the recycling. It quantifies the CO2 emissions from transporting one tonne of recovered mixed paper or recovered plastic (PET/HDPE) bottles to China. It assumes that the carbon savings of recycling in China are similar to those identified in other countries, including the UK.

The study showed that the emissions caused by transporting the material to China account for only a small amount - on average less than a third – of the CO2 saved by recycling. However, due to the imbalance of trade between China and the UK, the majority of container ships head back to China empty and they are producing CO2 emissions whether or not they are carrying cargo. If you take this into account, the transport emissions are even smaller - less than one-tenth of the overall amount of CO2 saved by recycling.

This study is not a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), although it forms a necessary part of the evidence base to demonstrate that exporting the material to China is environmentally sustainable. To answer this question in full, further work on the relative environmental impacts of recycling processes in China and the UK would be required.

“It may seem strange that transporting our unwanted paper and plastic bottles such a distance would actually be better for the environment but that is what the evidence from this study shows. As more and more of this material is being sold to China we wanted to know the impact that was having on the environment, and specifically whether the CO2 emissions from the transport outweighed the benefits of the recycling. Although this study is only part of the environmental impact story, it is clear that there are significant CO2 savings that can be made by shipping our unwanted paper and plastic to China. In some cases, we just aren’t able to reprocess everything we collect or there isn’t enough of it to do so. In these cases, shipping it to China, which has a high demand and need for material, makes sense in CO2 terms. WRAP will continue to build both the environmental and economic case for domestic recycling.”
Liz Goodwin, CEO, WRAP

The study was carried out by Oakdene Hollins and critically reviewed by ERM.

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The Waste & Resource Action Plan (WRAP), has hailed a food waste recycling scheme in which 4,272 tonnes of food waste were diverted from landfill a success. The efforts also averted 1,967 tonnes of CO2.

Nineteen English local authorities experimented with ways of collecting food waste from 94,000 households. In the majority of areas, more than 70% of people agreed to separate their food waste for composting. The average food waste collection was between 0.3 and 2.2 kilos.

"We are delighted by the results of these trials, which show that if consumers are given the right tools and are provided with a good service, they will participate in initiatives to cut waste sent to landfill."
Phillip Ward, Director for Local Government Services, WRAP

The organisers believe that a survey of people in the pilot areas identified a gap between perception and reality.

Of the non-participants interviewed, a common reason for not taking part was that residents felt that they did not produce enough food waste to make it worthwhile.

However, WRAP research in the recent "The Food We Waste" report shows that even households claiming that they generate no food waste at all produce, on average, 2.9kg per week.

Concerns about potential odour, hygiene issues or attracting vermin were the reasons given by 24% of non-participants - but for those who did participate, the majority claimed not to have had a problem with any of these issues.

A highly positive note from this announcement is that these schemes work when implemented, people are willing to carry out the task of waste separation and will do. If similar schemes were implemented across the UK's approximate 21m households, we could see 954 383 tonnes of food diverted from landfill and 439 436 tonnes of CO2 emissions. However even more importantly, by volume, food waste is the largest contributor to methane gas production, and sending this to landfill releases these gases. The EU Landfill Directive and Waste Regulations, like regulations in other countries, encourage diverting organic wastes away from landfill disposal for these reasons.


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Recycling Rate in Lisburn Area Increases to 31%

Lisburn residents have achieved a 31% recycle rate for last year. By using green bins for recycling material such as paper, cans, cardboard and plastic bottles and brown bins for compostable garden waste, residents have achieved another year-on-year increase.

As well as the green and brown bins, the council also provides numerous recycling amenity sites across their remit, which accept materials such as glass bottles and jars, textiles, electronic goods and tetra pak drinks cartons. For information on your nearest amenity site or other questions regarding Lisburn City Council kerbside recycling, you can contact the council's recycling hotline on 0800 092 0246.

Lisburn City Council also offer keen gardeners and those wishing to recycle small amounts of food waste, a home compost bin for £5. This is only available to householders in the council catchment area, and can be ordered from the above telephone number.

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