17 May 2021
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4 min read
Packaging from major UK retailers was identified in the investigation | Credit: Greenpeace
Major investigation from green group highlights how plastic produced by major UK retailers is being illegaly dumped and burned across Turkey
Greenpeace has warned that more than half the plastic waste the government counts as recycled is being dumped overseas, as it published the results of a major investigation into how plastic from British supermarkets is being discarded or burned illegally across parts of southwestern Turkey.
Packaging and plastic bags from seven of the UK's top 10 supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, M&S, and the Co-op, was found burning or dumped illegally by roadsides, in fields and in waterways across 10 sites in the region of Adana, the campaigners said.
Greenpeace said the investigation highlighted that some of the British waste had been dumped relatively recently, noting that packaging for a Covid-19 antigen test was found amongst bags of UK plastic. Plastic from Aldi, Asda, Lidl, B&Q, Debenhams, Poundland, and Spar were also discovered during the course of the investigation.
The majority of the plastic found at 10 sites had been shedded and the plastic was often found spilling from large off-white bulk bags that matched the appearance of bags outside recycling facilities throughout the region, Greenpeace said. The majority of these bags had been ripped open, allowing small pieces of plastic to escape, and in some cases plastic waste been covered in soil with more plastic dumped on top, it added.
The campaigners have today accused the government of upholding structural inequalities by failing to take bolder action to prevent plastic waste that is shipped overseas from harming human health and the environment. The findings in Turkey are in clear breach of UK environmental law, they said, which states that it is illegal to export plastic waste unless it is destined to be recycled or incinerated in a waste plant.
Nina Schrank, senior plastics campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said it was "appalling" to see plastic from UK supermarkets' shelves ending up burning on the side of Turkish roads. "We must stop dumping our plastic waste on other countries," she said. "The heart of the problem is overproduction - the UK is the second biggest user of plastic waste per person in the world, behind the US. The government needs to take control of this problem."
Roughly 40 per cent of the UK's plastic waste goes to Turkey and exports to the nation have increased by a factor of 18 over the last few years after China banned the import of most plastic waste from industrialised nations in 2017. UK waste exports to Turkey have surged from 12,000 tonnes to 210,000 tonnes a year between 2016 and 2020, according to government figures.
The introduction of a ban on many types of plastic waste imports by the Turkish government this January has so far had "minimal impact", Greenpeace warned, highlighting figures that show the UK exported double the plastic waste in February this year than it did the February previous.
Greenpeace has called on the government to introduce an outright ban on plastic waste exports and ramp up its efforts to tackle plastic pollution by establishing a legally binding target to halve single-use plastic by 50 per cent by 2025. "This would not only allow the UK to end waste exports, but it would also mean less plastic going into incineration and landfill," Schrank.
Sam Chetan-Welsh, political campaigner at Greenpeace, accused the government of "upholding structural inequality" by allowing plastic waste to damage human health and the environment abroad.
"The UK's current approach to plastic waste exports is part of a history of environmental racism carried out through dumping toxic or hazardous pollutants," he said. "The impacts of plastic waste exports on human health and the environment are disproportionately felt by communities of colour. These communities have fewer political, economic, and legal means to oppose toxic dumping, so companies can act with impunity."
"The UK government wouldn't allow other countries' waste to be dumped here, so why is it acceptable to make it another country's problem?" he added.
A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the government was committed to introducing tougher controls on illegal waste imports and would ban the export of plastic waste to developing countries.
"We are clear that the UK should handle more of its waste at home, and that's why we are committed to banning the export of plastic waste to non-OECD countries and clamping down on illegal waste exports - including to countries such as Turkey - through tougher controls," the spokesperson said. "The UK is a global leader in tackling plastic pollution and our proposals for extended producer responsibility for packaging, a plastic packaging tax and mandatory electronic waste tracking will boost recycling rates, reduce waste and cut crime."
However, critics have long argued that the government has not taken sufficient steps to expand UK recycling capacity and has failed to adequately ramp up enforcement agencies to tackle the illegal export of waste materials.
