A new report by Dutch charity Plastic Soup Foundation has revealed the Netherlands is leading EU waste exports to the Global South and UK plastic waste shipped to the Netherlands more than doubled between 2020-2021.
The charity says that the report has prompted fresh concerns UK plastic waste may be being shipped to the Global South via proxy. Plastic Soup Foundation has called for an “urgent ban on all plastic waste exports outside the EU” in response to the report.
According to Plastic Soup Foundation, only Japan and the US exported more plastic waste to countries in the Global South in 2021 than the Netherlands; per capita, the Netherlands is the world leader in plastic exports.
Figures released earlier this year revealed UK plastic waste exports to the Netherlands increased by around 62% between 2020 and 2021.
If countries took seriously their responsibility to slash plastic waste, there would be no real need for plastic waste exports.
The report revealed that during this period plastic waste exports from the Netherlands to the Global South more than doubled to more than 200 million kgs. Almost 70 million kgs were sent to Indonesia, while 64 million kgs were intended to travel to Vietnam.
Plastic Soup Foundation says that the UK Government has committed to consult by the end of 2022 on banning the export of UK plastic waste to non-OECD countries.
It continues that direct exports to Indonesia and Vietnam would fall within the scope of a UK ban, although exports to the Netherlands would not. It is unclear if the upcoming regulations would outlaw plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries via proxy countries.
Director of Plastic Soup Foundation, Maria Westerbos, said: “The export of plastic waste should be completely banned to countries outside of the European Union. The Netherlands too as the largest transit port for plastic waste should take responsibility and halt all exports.
“If countries took seriously their responsibility to slash plastic waste, there would be no real need for plastic waste exports.”