Recycling shipped to China to be burnt as cheap fuel

Recycling is being shipped to China where it is being burnt as cheap fuel, according to a new report calling for a whole new approach to disposing of waste in the UK.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent Last Updated: 7:20PM GMT 04 Dec 2008
The Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) said the Government's policy of recycling as much as possible is failing to help the environment because materials are being dumped in landfill or shipped to developing countries.
Instead the experts said there should be a factory in every town or village to generate energy from waste either through burning or composting.
The Government is trying to cut the enormous amount of waste that goes to landfill every year. However the IMechE said recycling rates are not as high as ministers claim. This is because the figures are based on the amount of waste collected for recycling, rather than the actual amount of waste that is being recycled.
In fact some material collected for recycling is sent to landfill because it is not appropriate for processing or shipped to China where it is used as a cheap fuel. Furthermore the waste that is recycled in the UK uses a huge amount of energy for transport and processing, which counteracts the environmental benefits of recycling.
In a hard-hitting report, the IMechE called for a whole new strategy focusing on "energy from waste". This would see a new generation of incinerators, that burn waste for energy and anaerobic digesters, that process waste to make biofuel, springing up around the country.
Ultimately it could provide up to 20 per cent of the country's electricity needs and also heat homes.
Ian Arbon, author of the report, said local authorities have no duty to track where recycling goes once it is sold onto waste contractors. Therefore a "colossal amount" is ending up in China where there are few environmental restrictions to stop it being burnt as cheap fuel.
"People would be very angry if they knew the recycling they have carefully sorted was going to China," he said.
Mr Arbon said the UK would do far better to process waste locally because it would not only cut down on the carbon emissions used to transport waste but generate electricity from a renewable source. He said the modern generation of incinerators do not pollute the environment and pointed out they are already in use across the Continent.
"We see energy from waste as one of the brightest hopes of meeting the Government's target to cut greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "Indeed we will not meet those targets without it."
Chris Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, said the Government is planning to build much more energy from waste plants, although recycling was still a big part of the UK's waste reduction strategy.
However there are concerns at the moment that recycling is being stored or even sent to landfill because of the collapse in the global market for aluminium, plastic and paper.
Mr Smith called on councils not to scrap recycling services because it is difficult to sell on materials.
"Local authorities in England and Wales must hold their nerve. The collection, treatment and reprocessing capacity for recyclable waste in England and Wales must be retained and expanded if we are to meet our legal targets on landfill waste," he said.
"There can be no return to the bad old days of sending too much waste to landfill. So it's vital that this economic slowdown does not jeopardise public confidence in recycling, particularly with Christmas approaching – which is always a crunch time for waste collection and recycling."
WRAP, the Government's body on waste reduction, also published guidelines for local authorities on how to get rid of recycled materials.
The online advice includes information on local and global markets so that councils can find buyers and do not have to store recycled material or send it to landfill.