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WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR PLASTIC WASTE? – Ryedale Environment Group
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  3. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR PLASTIC WASTE?

79% of the plastic waste we produce remains in our environment so we are saddling ourselves with a massive problem of disposal for the future.

Evidence from The Big Plastic Count indicates that in the UK :-

  • 58%  of plastic waste is incinerated
  • 11%  goes to landfill
  • 17% is recycled 
  • 14% is  exported

BUT there are problems with all of these outcomes.

Incineration 

  • Can release high levels of toxic gases which pollute the air and harm animals and plants 
  • Incineration may emit more CO2 per tonne than burning coal (BBC survey)  and therefore can actually contribute towards  climate change.
  •  The UK already has too much waste being incinerated 
  • It harms the circular reuse economy.
  • Incineration can cause its own problems with traffic, noise , visual impact etc.

Please see UK Without Incineration – UKWIN website 

North Yorkshire’s Allerton Park Recovery Park is described on the Council’s web page.

LANDFILL

  • Ordinary rubbish dumped in landfill breaks down naturally over time. 
  •  But…paper degrades in 2-5 months, cotton 12 months, leather 25-50 years, metal takes over 100 years to degrade but plastic takes around 500 hundred years to decompose!

    RECYCLING 

  • Can’t cope with the sheer amount of plastic waste being thrown away. 
  • It is expensive in time and money. 
  • Also, some plastic can only be recycled twice before it has to be put into landfill, incinerated or exported in any case so recycling is not the answer either.

Scientists are trying to develop other, innovative ways to remove plastic including plastic eating funghi!