by Stefania Fumo
ROME, April 23 (Xinhua) -- A new report released on Tuesday by the environmental organization Greenpeace highlighted failures in the global plastic recycling system, saying world plastic waste exports "dropped sharply to half the volumes recorded in 2016."
However, Giuseppe Ungherese, head of Greenpeace Italy's campaign against pollution, told Xinhua in an interview that "the only long-term, sustainable strategy is to be proactive, to address the root of the problem and reduce production instead of looking for other countries to receive our waste."
Ungherese said while a portion of such waste exporting to countries was destined for recycling, plastic recycling "is not necessarily a virtuous operation, because many dangerous chemicals are present in plastic, which can end up being released into the environment during the recycling process."
Meanwhile, recycling takes energy and the use of other substances, he added. "Recycling is better than producing brand-new plastic, but it is not a perfect process."
"For years, we have been told to recycle and today, the state of the world's oceans tells us in a clear and unmistakable way, that the recycling system has failed," Ungherese said.
"On a global level, 40 percent of all plastic production is used for applications that go from a few seconds to a few minutes," Ungherese said in reference to plastic straws, cups, plates, and food and water packaging.
The expert said over 90 percent of all plastic items produced in the world since the 1950s have never been recycled, and plastic production has grown exponentially over the past few decades. If it continues at current rates, the amount of plastic that was produced globally in 2015 will double by 2025 and grow fourfold by 2050, he said.
In April 2018, China announced that the country would ban imports of several types of solid waste, including plastic, in a bid to prevent environmental pollution.
Malaysia, following in China's footsteps, announced in October it's banning the import of plastic scrap and cracking down on factories that process such waste illegally.
On March 6, with the aim of "fighting against plastic waste," the Indian government also completely banned plastic scrap imports.
"China's 2018 ban on waste imports is certainly understandable, and no other nation would be willing to take on all the waste generated by the Western world," Ungherese said.
"Measures of this kind are necessary "to improve standards -- in order to increase quality of life, one must reduce pollution, including reducing the waste imports from other countries," Ungherese said.
The Greenpeace report titled "Global and Italian Plastic Waste Routes" analyzed the world market in reference to the 21 chief exporting countries and the 21 main importing countries in the January 2016 to November 2018 period.
According to the report, in 2018, the main plastic waste exporters were the United States with 16.5 percent of world exports, Germany at 15.6 percent, Japan at 15.3 percent, and Italy was in 11th place at 2.25 percent of all plastic waste exports.
