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Question from: County Councillor Kathryn Silk Subject: Waste plastic recycling or safe disposal
Question:
A recent report from Greenpeace has highlighted that UK waste plastic is being dumped in landfill or burned on sites in a number of countries overseas. Whilst recognising that Wales is one of the world’s leading recyclers, can the Portfolio Holder explain what due diligence is undertaken to ensure that all single use plastics are disposed of safely or recycled so that householders in Powys can be absolutely certain that their waste plastic is not contributing to pollution in less developed countries.
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
We tender the collection and processing of all
kerbside materials to ensure a stable and responsible outlet and
best value for all materials. By
tendering materials for a year at a time, we are able to attract
large national companies that have proven track records in
diligently and responsibly processing waste materials within the
UK. All necessary checks are made
against these companies’ claims during the tender process,
and these checks are maintained through robust reporting throughout
the life of the contract. The records
are checked for validity, including cross-checking against the
statutory waste returns that all licensed waste facilities must
submit to their respective regulator (Natural Resources Wales or in
England, the Environment Agency). All
accreditation for meeting end-of-waste criteria is also checked to
ensure that they are genuine and up-to-date.
The destinations for all materials collected by the Council are available on our website at the following link,
Whilst investigative reports such as the one that Greenpeace has carried out do reveal some shocking results, it is a shame that these are reported in a way that would suggest all Councils are carrying out this kind of activity. This has the effect of undermining the hard work that authorities carry out, particularly in Wales, getting residents to recycle their waste.
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