Rubbish as an export commodity is normal – the rubbish should be used to create new goods elsewhere. Unsightly images of German rubbish in poorer countries have already caused displeasure. Now there are new numbers.
German companies exported significantly less plastic waste in 2021 than before.
Last year around 697,000 tons of plastic waste were transported abroad, a third (32 percent) less than in 2020, said the Federal Association of the German Waste Management, Water and Raw Materials Management (BDE) at the request of the German Press Agency in Berlin With. For example, it concerns industrial films, production waste and food packaging. Based on an industry estimate from 2019, around six million tons of separately collected plastic waste is generated in Germany every year.
The export figures for the months January to October come from the Federal Statistical Office, the months November and December are estimates by the BDE. Plastic waste generated in Germany has to be recycled; it is processed into plastic granules or ends up as fuel in power plants. The granulates are used to manufacture new products, such as polyester clothing, garbage bags and street bollards. This can also be done abroad.
Pandemic played a role
BDE boss Peter Kurth sees the decline in export volumes as positive. It shows that the domestic demand for the raw materials has increased. However, the industry representative pointed out that stricter import restrictions from Asian countries and the corona pandemic, including interrupted supply chains, may have played a role. “2021 was an exceptional year.” The decline is so clear that a trend can be deduced from it, especially since the export volume had already fallen last year, according to Kurth – by nine percent at the time.
It is also noteworthy that the turnover made with plastic exports has remained almost the same despite the drop in volume at 259 million euros: the statisticians show only a mini-minus of one percent. One possible conclusion: overall prices and the quality of the export goods rose.
There were also significant changes to the list of importers. For years, China was the main customer. This led to side effects there: The quality of the waste that China had imported from all over the world was sometimes low and only some of it was properly recycled – other parts remained in the environment as waste.
German plastic waste caused a stir
Beijing reacted and tightened the import rules for waste a few years ago. The waste streams shifted to other Asian countries, as of 2018 Malaysia was the largest importer of German plastic waste. India, Indonesia and Vietnam also received larger quantities. That had consequences. For example, German plastic waste that was illegally dumped in the wilderness of Malaysia caused a stir. It is difficult to determine who is to blame in such cases because the chain of stores with multiple middlemen can be difficult to track.
Other Asian countries have also become more restrictive on waste imports. According to the new statistics, the picture has now changed significantly. Last year, Malaysia slipped from first place to fourth place among the largest importers of German plastic waste. The amount shrank from 170,000 tons to 46,000 tons. Hong Kong, Indonesia and Vietnam have slipped out of the top 10. The Netherlands is the new front runner with a plastic import volume from Germany of 136,000 tons last year, 12 percent less than in 2020.
Exports to EU neighboring countries such as the Netherlands are considered less critical because the recycling standards there are similarly high. Turkey, on the other hand, is in second place in the new ranking, so it went up one place – and this despite a quarterly volume of 99,000 tons. In Poland, the amount rose by a fifth to 79,000 tons, which put the state in third place in the waste ranking. Incidentally, the issue of waste trading is not a one-way street: According to reports, Germany imported 446,000 tons of plastic waste last year, nine percent less than in 2020.
Control patchy in some places
“The plastics export will be an intra-European issue,” said BDE boss Kurth. It also shows that the politically desired throttling of exports is already taking place. Are waste exports even necessary? Generally yes, says Kurth. “We want a functioning circular economy in which waste is reused as raw materials and does not end up as rubbish.” It could be helpful here if companies in other countries buy waste and use it in products that are not manufactured in the exporting country.
However, Kurth admitted that there are risks with plastics exports, “that cannot be discussed away”. The controls in some non-European buyer countries are incomplete – so people do not pay attention to whether the waste is being processed properly. This is a political problem that needs to be addressed.
Environmentalists are very critical of the issue of waste exports. They warn of environmental damage if the garbage ends up in poorer countries and its whereabouts are barely monitored. Turkey is now becoming a “sad number 2 among German plastic waste exports,” says Greenpeace expert Viola Wohlgemuth. In the past, non-recyclable waste has often ended up there. “The pollution is now so great that Turkey issued an import ban on certain plastic waste in 2021, for example the import of mixed and mechanically sorted plastics.” The prohibition requirements are too weak, however, and imports of garbage from Germany remain a problem in Turkey, says Wohlgemuth.
Exports cause discomfort
“It is our garbage that pollutes the environment worldwide – and our responsibility to ensure that this no longer happens,” says the environmentalist and calls for stricter rules. German companies from which illegally exported garbage originates would have to take it back.
In parts of the waste management sector, exports to other continents are also causing unease. “Germany and Europe should be able to recycle their plastic waste themselves,” says the head of the Green Dot, Michael Wiener. That would create jobs. “Further investments in the recycling infrastructure are urgently needed.”