Plastic Soup Foundation
16 February 2021

Table of Contents

About Plastic Soup Foundation

Founded in February 2011, we are a single-issue organization and focus entirely on plastics. With a team of about twenty people, we give everything to achieve our goal: no plastic in our water or our bodies!

We are based in Amsterdam but have an international focus. Our mission has not only been embraced in the Netherlands but also particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom and India.

BAN THE EXPORT OF PLASTIC WASTE!

16 February 2021

  • The usable items are recycled there and the rest, estimated to be around 30%, is incinerated or illegally dumped.
  • The signatory countries of Treaty of Basel agreed additional rules that only clean plastic waste that can be recycled immediately may be traded freely across the world.
  • However, the Pointer broadcast shows that the system has a lot of loopholes: 1. containers do not always contain what is stated; 2. recipient recycling companies have the appropriate permits.
  • In the Netherlands, recycling companies need to pay for the plastic that is too dirty or hard to separate (will be incinerated), which drives them selling abroad.
  • The chance of being caught in the port of Antwerp is small as the trick is to use another customs code.
  • Exports within the EU need to meet more stringent regulations so that no more illegal plastic waste is dumped in countries such as Poland anymore.
  • An exceptional opportunity in 2021：The European Commission is reviewing the Waste Shipment Regulation. Zero Waste Europe has come up with recommendations. PSF is calling on the Dutch Government to support these.

Waste Shipment Regulation revision (JANUARY 2021)

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How to fix Europe’s plastic waste trade issues

  1. Ban on plastic waste exports outside of the European Union
  • 2.55 m tonnes of plastic waste in 2017 dropped to 1.72 m tonnes in 2019 as flows shifted from China to Southeast Asia and Turkey.
  • As Parties to the Basel Convention, EU countries have a general obligation to be self-sufficient in waste management and to minimise transboundary movements of waste. Rich industrialised countries of the EU should be among the first to
    achieve this goal.
  1. Fully implement the Basel Convention within the EU
  2. Establish a clear distinction between mechanical recycling and any other kind of recovery for treatment operations
  • To promote mechanical recycling, intra-EU waste shipment destined for
    disposal or recovery other than mechanical recycling should be subordinated to an assessment that no better option is available.
  1. Set a European-wide threshold for waste contamination of 0.5%
  • In line with the Basel language “almost free from contamination".
  • It provides the right incentive for much needed action to move recycling upwards in the waste hierarchy through better waste collection and sorting systems.
  1. Ensure publicly accessible access to waste trade data