In a new report released by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) with the title The Truth Behind Trash: The scale and impact of the international trade in plastic waste, EIA’s Ocean team has pulled together and analyzed available plastic waste export data to give the most comprehensive picture to date of the world’s mounting plastic waste trade problem.
The Truth Behind Trash shows the immense scale and opacity of the plastic waste trade, which not only enables the ever-expanding production of virgin plastic and its unchecked consumption but firmly displaces the duty of treatment onto those countries which are not responsible for it. Exporting countries – primarily the UK, EU member states, Japan, and the US – are overwhelming the plastic waste management infrastructure of destination countries as a result of not being able to manage what they alone produce and consume. EIA believes these countries must take responsibility for their own waste by banning its export and reducing the amount of plastic they consume. The best estimates suggest as much as 79% of all plastic waste is going into landfills and the natural environment and the plastic waste trade contributes significantly to that.
For the full report, the link is here.