Latin America urges US to reduce plastic waste exports to region

Study finds exports to region doubled in 2020 with practice predicted to grow as US invests in recycling plants

Environmental organisations across Latin America have called on the US to reduce plastic waste exports to the region, after a report found the US had doubled exports to some countries in the region during the first seven months of 2020.

The US is the world’s largest plastic waste exporter, although it has dramatically reduced the overall amount it exports since 2015, when China – previously the top importer – said it “no longer wanted to be the world’s rubbish dump” and began imposing restrictions. Elsewhere around the world imports are rising, and not least in Latin America, with its cheap labour and close proximity to the US.

More than 75% of imports to the region arrive in Mexico, which received more than 32,650 tons (29,620 metric tonnes) of plastic waste from the US between January and August 2020. El Salvador was second, with 4,054 tons, and Ecuador third, with 3,665 tons, according to research carried out by the Last Beach Cleanup, an environmental advocacy group based in California.

While hazardous waste imports are subject to tariffs and restrictions, they are seldom enforced and plastic waste intended for recycling – which until January this year was not considered hazardous under international law – that enters importing countries can often end up as landfill, according to a researchers with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (Gaia).

A Gaia report published in July also predicted further growth in the plastic waste sector in Latin America due to companies in the US and China investing in factories and recycling plants across the region to process the US plastic exports.

Some view the practice as a form of environmental colonialism. “The cross-border plastic waste trade is perhaps one of the most nefarious expressions of the commercialisation of common goods and the colonial occupation of territories of the geopolitical south to turn them into sacrifice zones,” said Fernanda Solíz, the health area director at the Simón Bolívar University in Ecuador.

“Latin America and the Caribbean are not the back yards of the United States,” Soliz said. “We are sovereign territories, and we demand the respect of the rights of nature and our peoples.”

Most of the world’s countries agreed in May 2019 to stem the flow of plastic waste from the developed nations of the global north into the poorer ones of the global south. Known as the plastics amendment to the Basel Convention, the agreement prohibited the export of plastic waste from private entities in the US to those in developing nations without the permission of local governments.

But critically, the US did not ratify the agreement, and has been accused of continuing to funnel its waste into countries around the world, including in Africa, south-east Asia, and Latin America.

“Regional governments fail in two aspects: the first is inspections at customs because we don’t really know what enters the country under the guise of recycling, and they also fail in their commitments with international agreements such as the Basel convention.” said Camila Aguilera, a spokesperson for Gaia. “And here it is important to see what comes under the types of recycling because recycling is seen as a good thing.”

“Countries in the global north see recycling as something to be proud of, forgetting about redesigning the products and reducing waste,” said Aguilera. “It’s very difficult for governments to treat plastic like toxic waste, but that’s what it is.”

Contributor

Joe Parkin Daniels

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Argentina could become 'sacrificial country' for plastic waste, say activists
Country has changed definition of waste, which campaigners fear could lead to imports of low-grade plastic scraps

Emily Holden in Washington

01, Nov, 2019 @9:39 AM

Article image
EU rules out tax on plastic products to reduce waste
EU opts for public awareness campaign on the impacts of plastics on the environment saying a tax would not be sustainable

Fiona Harvey in Malta

06, Oct, 2017 @1:53 PM

Article image
Deposit scheme could dramatically reduce plastic waste – report
Analysis says DRS would stop thousands of tonnes of waste entering English rivers and sea

Sandra Laville

14, Jun, 2019 @9:40 AM

Article image
EU agrees to ban exports of waste plastic to poor countries
Rules, still subject to formal approval, stop exports to non-OECD countries and limit them elsewhere

Ajit Niranjan

17, Nov, 2023 @12:30 PM

Article image
Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret
A Guardian report from 11 countries tracks how US waste makes its way across the world – and overwhelms the poorest nations

Erin McCormick, Bennett Murray, Carmela Fonbuena, Leonie Kijewski, Gökçe Saraçoğlu, Jamie Fullerton, Alastair Gee and Charlotte Simmonds

17, Jun, 2019 @5:00 AM

Article image
EU declares war on plastic waste
Brussels targets single-use plastics in an urgent clean-up plan that aims to make all packaging reusable or recyclable by 2030

Daniel Boffey in Brussels

16, Jan, 2018 @3:50 PM

Article image
Turkey to ban plastic waste imports
Greenpeace investigation revealed British recycling left to burn on beaches and roadsides

Sandra Laville

19, May, 2021 @3:15 PM

Article image
‘Waste colonialism’: world grapples with west’s unwanted plastic
Germany and UK are big exporters of plastic, much of which lies rotting in ports in Turkey, Vietnam and other countries

Ruth Michaelson

31, Dec, 2021 @12:58 PM

Article image
Biodegradable plastic 'false solution' for ocean waste problem
UN’s top environmental scientist warns bottles and bags do not break down easily and sink, as report highlights the ubiquity of plastic debris in oceans

Adam Vaughan in Nairobi

23, May, 2016 @10:47 AM

Article image
World's deepest waters becoming 'ultimate sink' for plastic waste
Scientists say it is likely no marine ecosystems are left that are not affected by pollution

Jonathan Watts

27, Feb, 2019 @12:01 AM