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9 November 2022
Following its inquiry to ‘Avoidable Plastic Waste’ which started in 2021, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee published today its report which focuses on accelerating action on plastic waste. For the first time, advanced recycling is identified as a policy recommendation to address unrecyclable plastic waste, and the Committee calls for new technologies to be included in Governments infrastructure roadmap.
In a wide-ranging report, which looked at Government objectives and the actions being taken by many stakeholders in civil society and industry, the Committee makes some important recommendations that aim to ensure the UK is a leading country in tackling the waste plastic problem. The report highlights a range of challenges and opportunities to address plastic waste, which is frequently exported and ends up being dumped in places such as Malaysia and Turkey.
Richard Daley, Managing Director at ReNew ELP (a subsidiary of Mura Technology), gave evidence to the inquiry in January 2022 alongside written evidence from Dr. Geoff Brighty, Mura’s Chief Sustainability Officer.
Commenting, Dr. Brighty said ”We welcome this report as a clear step forward across a range of policy areas to address plastic waste. We are pleased that the Committee took our evidence into its considerations, making clear recommendations for advanced recycling to form part of future UK waste management infrastructure. We look forward to working with Defra and other Departments to inform the roadmap for future investment in critical infrastructure, to make the UK the leading player in this growing sector.
“The Committee also wants to see waste plastic exports being banned from 2027. This provides the advanced recycling sector with the plastic feedstock to recycle back into valuable hydrocarbon. That way we can export high-value recycled feedstock for the chemical industry, gaining important revenue for the UK economy, and divert waste material from energy from waste, reducing the UK’s carbon emissions.”
Richard Daley said “In a week where the world is once again focusing on climate change, the Committees support for chemical recycling is showing the way low-carbon, circular economies support UK industry, economy and the environment”.
