– We can not continue to pat ourselves on the back as long as we sort at source and send the plastic waste on, says Vilma Havas. She is a researcher at the knowledge company Salt in Lofoten. Together with Jannike Falk-Andersson from Niva and Paritosh Deshpande NTNU, Havas recently published an article about what we know about recycling plastic. And the numbers are clear: Around 9-10 percent of all plastic in the world is recycled. 12–14 percent are burned. The remaining percentages (76-79 percent) end up in landfills or end up in nature. At the same time, new research shows, among other things, that the amount of plastic that ends up in the sea each year is much greater than first assumed. And most estimates also suggest that the amount of plastic in nature will only increase, as our consumption also increases. – If we are to have functioning ecosystems in the future, we do not have many years to find solutions to this, says Vilma Havas. In the article, she and the other researchers present their proposals for how we can reduce plastic consumption and at the same time become better at recycling plastic. IMPORTANT TO SORT SORT: Vilma Havas in Salt believes that it is still important that we sort at source. Among other things, because we in Norway have both producer responsibility for plastic packaging and a very good deposit system. Photo: Espen Mortensen / Salt Knows little about what happens to the plastic More than half of the plastic that is scheduled to be recycled is exported. It is often rich countries that send the plastic waste to less rich countries. For Norway, we send a good deal of plastic waste to Sweden and Germany for recycling. Although Norway pays extra for handling the plastic waste in Germany, there are no figures on how much is actually recycled into new materials there, according to Havas. – We may have been a little naive and thought our plastic would be recycled, at the same time as other countries get to use it for new products. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The price of increasing plastic consumption globally is too often paid by those who use the least space. For example, rural areas in Malaysia, which are buried in imported plastic waste, says Havas. Havas says that some plastics of poorer quality are burned or perhaps used in other products, such as cement. – But unfortunately it is the case that a good part of the waste that is actually to be recycled, ends up in nature. Therefore, Vilma Havas and her colleagues from Niva and NTNU believe that the countries that use, produce and export a lot of plastic must take more responsibility themselves. LARGE QUANTITIES: Plastic waste in an abandoned factory outside Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Photo: MOHD RASFAN / AFP The plastic must be treated where it is used They suggest increased focus on what they call small circles. The concept is that the countries that produce and use a lot of plastic must also put in place better systems for recycling the plastic themselves, preferably without the plastic having to be transported over long distances. – If we take responsibility for the plastic we use, there is also motivation to use less plastic. It shows several studies. If, on the other hand, we create the illusion that everything is in order as long as we send the used plastic on, it will not be a problem to use more plastic. But suddenly the same plastic comes floating back to our shore with the ocean currents. Another contribution to solving the problems with plastic in nature may be common global requirements for the plastic we produce. One of the major challenges with plastic recycling is that the quality of the plastic varies greatly. A good deal of plastic, for example, consists of many different types of plastic. Therefore, it becomes difficult to recycle. – The plastic loses a lot of quality in the recycling process. It is one thing to put in place standardized materials that can be used in several products, another thing is to have more focus on producing plastics that can be recycled. But recycling plastic is expensive. And finances can prove to be a challenge in several ways. Expensive to recycle plastic – The financial gain controls this. Take, for example, the companies Malaysia, which receives some waste from Europe. The less it costs them to process the plastic, the more they earn. If they dump the plastic in the nearest river, they earn more than if they have to handle the plastic in a responsible way. – Is it really that bad? – It seems that way, at least in some places. Satellite images show how open landfills develop in rural areas, for example in Southeast Asia. Some of them are located either rivers or coastline. After periods of heavy rainfall or bad weather, large amounts of plastic have disappeared. Ieva Rucevska and her colleagues in GRID-Arendal have looked at whether any of the myths surrounding plastic rubbish are true. They also see that money plays an important role. – Today, recycled plastic often competes with plastic made from oil. In most cases, the latter is cheaper to produce. If you are going to make plastic products, you choose the cheapest solution, says Rucevska. Therefore, both researchers and others are calling for politicians to take action to make it more profitable to reuse plastic. – We must put in place good incentives from the authorities that make it worthwhile to use recycled raw material rather than virgin, says Kari-Lill Ljøstad in Grønn Punkt Norge. And there are things going on. Grønn Punkt Norge answers this about the case Grønn Punkt Norge is responsible for a good part of the plastic packaging that is collected in Norway. Every year, the member companies sell their goods with 140,000 tonnes of plastic packaging. Just over 54,000 tonnes of this are collected and sent for recycling. In an e-mail to news, they write a bit about the system for recycling plastic packaging in Norway. Among other things, they write that all plastic packaging from households must be sorted into plastic qualities (PP, LDPE, HDPE, etc.). We do not currently have such central sorting plants in Norway. Therefore, collected plastic packaging from households is sent to Germany for sorting before it can be recycled. But the company Plastretur, which is operated by Grønt Punkt Norge, is planning a large central sorting plant in this country as well. Grønn Punkt Norge emphasizes that they set high environmental requirements for the transport of plastic waste that is sent abroad. Plastretur and Grønn Punkt Norge also have full traceability of all plastic packaging that passes through their system. Furthermore, they write that there are still things that can be improved when it comes to plastic recycling, also in Norway: “The system must be better for us to reach new recycling targets in 2025. To achieve this, we have great activity with our member companies. through Plastløftet. Here, companies set themselves ambitious goals of using more recycled plastic, cutting unnecessary use of plastic and not least designing their packaging so that it is suitable for recycling. In addition, far more plastic packaging must be sorted correctly by the end user. Today, 65 percent of all the packaging our members put on the market goes straight into the residual waste at the consumer, and thus does not even get the chance to enter the circular cycle. In addition, more must probably be sorted out of the residual waste as we can not expect the end user to be so good that they sort at least 80 percent of all plastic packaging correctly – something we depend on if we are to recycle 50 percent in 2025 and 55 percent in 2030 We must also put in place good incentives from the authorities that make it worthwhile to use recycled raw materials rather than virgins. And the public sector, as a huge purchaser and premise supplier, can itself increase its attractiveness by demanding recycled raw materials rather than products made from virgin plastic. ” Nairobi agreement could become important In March, the countries of the world agreed to develop a global plastics agreement. The agreement stipulates that the countries commit themselves to new rules for the use and production of plastic, with the aim of stopping plastic waste. Exactly what the agreement will contain has not yet been decided. – I think the agreement should contain clear, technical requirements about where and how plastic should be recycled. We must also have requirements for standardized materials for the plastic that is produced and an extended responsibility for the manufacturers, so that we have better control of the plastic throughout the value chain, says Vilma Havas. At the same time, a lot of work was done with systems to remove the plastic from the sea. But Havas believes we must address the issue before that time. – We must also look at systems that ensure that the plastic does not end up in the sea. We simply have to close the taps, she says. NEW METHODS: Plastic in the sea is a major environmental problem, but fortunately there are new methods that are being tested, and which can provide an environmental benefit in the long run.
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Researchers shout warnings about plastic waste in the world. This is how they think we must tackle the problem – news Nordland
