The Chinese government is rumoured to be banning the import of some plastic packaging waste for reprocessing from as early as Saturday (1 March), packagingnews.co.uk has learned.
The British Plastics Federation (BPF) has been made aware that a ban would most likely affect low-density products such as plastic bags and netting, although it could include all baled plastic waste.
One interpretation is that the ban is linked to the Olympic Games in Beijing, which runs from 8-24 August, after which it could be lifted.
China has already announced a ban on the domestic "production, sale and use" of ultra-thin bags, defined as being less than 0.025mm thick, from the beginning of June.
China and Hong Kong are the destinations for the majority of exported UK plastic waste.
BPF director general Peter Davis said a Chinese ban could have a serious impact on the UK's ability to meet landfill directive targets.
"It's already borderline if we are going to achieve it," said Davis.
Mark Burstall, chairman of the BRC recycling council, said the UK plastics recycling industry was "pretty versatile and investing a lot of money in increasing capacity", but would be unlikely to be able to react overnight if China introduced a ban.
"It's a reasonable deduction that there would be a surplus of material in the short term," he said.
Bernard Chase, purchasing manager at Linpac Plastics Recycling, said that, were the rumour substantiated, it might impact direct imports to China, but material could still enter via Hong Kong, which is perceived to have less stringent controls.
Chase hoped that, even if the rumour was not true, it might "stimulate the debate" on the long-term sustainability of relying on export markets for packaging waste recycling.
"I think we're starting on a road where China is tightening up on quality, which is what we set out do; recycle with quality in mind," he said.
The demand from China for mixed plastics encouraged comingled collections in the UK, which affected the quality of materials available to reprocessors, he said.
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