eWASA News – 29 April 22

In 2018, China implemented their \”National Sword \” banning imports of plastic waste to protect their environment and develop their own domestic recycling capacity. Since exporting plastic waste is a convenient way for high-income countries to avoid disposal costs and impacts at home, while counting them as “recycled” there has recently been a significant redirection of plastic waste shipments to other countries that are not equipped to safely and securely manage it.

The Basel Plastic Waste Amendments were enacted on January 1, 2021. They were designed to reduce the flow of dirty and mixed plastic wastes, in particular to developing countries. However, the full-year data shows that OECD countries continue to flood non-OECD countries with plastic waste in 2021.

Highest OECD Plastic Waste Exporters to Non-OECD Countries in 2021, with exports primarily going to Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India:

• Japan: Exported 560,730 tonnes/yr
• United States: Exported 259,693 tonnes/yr
• Netherlands: Exported 206,684 tonnes/yr
• Germany: Exported 94,711 tonnes/yr
• Australia: Exported 86,904 tonnes/yr
• Belgium: Exported 66,451 tonnes/yr
• United Kingdom: Exported 24,793 tonnes/yr

Bloomberg reports: The office Ignacio Garcia shares with his colleagues is a showcase for his company’s creations—a plaque, one of the tables, even pots for his plants. The objects in the open-plan room are functionally distinct but share a common origin: the trash.

Garcia’s business recovers the components and raw materials from discarded electronic items for resale. It breaks down the plastic and metal bits it can’t sell, transforming them into new products. The Spanish company is called La Hormiga Verde, or “the green ant,” after Garcia’s antlike penchant for gathering and storing things. “I lost my job in 2018 and had to reinvent myself,” says Garcia, 50, an industrial engineer who spent 15 years in the biomass industry. “Looking at my mobile, I realized it was packed with recyclable materials. I saw a business opportunity.” Read more here.

In terms of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, PROs are required to populate and record all of the information/details regarding the e-waste collected, transported and treated by our members. These monthly reports are collated and submitted six-monthly every June, followed by a yearly report at the end of December each year.

We\’ve attached two documents that require your attention and completion. We need a separate report for each calendar month.

1. eWASA- EPR Levy Declaration Form – packaging
2. eWASA WEEE CATEGORY Report

Please complete the documents for the period November 2021 to the end of March 2022, and send them back to us by 22 April 2022.

Once we have received and collated the data, we will reach out to you to discuss and finalise and EPR fees due and payable to you.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.