BPF Statement in Response to BBC Report on Waste Dumped in Turkey

The BPF has released a statement in response to the recent report by the BBC on waste being dumped and burned in Turkey. 

 

"It is shocking to see waste mismanaged in this way. The British Plastics Federation strongly condemns casual and irresponsible practices. The UK must learn from reports like this so that greater vigilance is applied to waste exports and illegal operators are shut down. 

 

The British Plastics Federation is working intently to help improve and develop the recycling system within the UK. The UK desperately needs greater investment to expand recycling capacity and improve the collection and sorting of used plastics. We are calling on the government to dedicate future revenues from the proposed plastics packaging tax to improving the plastics recycling infrastructure in the UK. In addition, the BPF have for years called for urgent reform of the legislation governing packaging waste (the ‘PRN’ system) in order to incentivise domestic recycling and to reduce reliance on exports. A key priority must be to ensure end markets for recycled materials, so that companies are strongly incentivised to reprocess the waste.    

 

This BBC report shows yet another reason why it’s vitally important that all stakeholders work together to build a strong recycling industry here in the UK and move closer  towards the goal of a national plastics circular economy.

 

This kind of irresponsible behaviour fortunately reflects only a minority of cases. It is crucial that consumers are not discouraged and that they maintain their responsible endeavours and continue to participate in recycling activities."