PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
PLASTIC WASTE EXPORTS (No. 2) (23 January 2019)

That this House notes that two thirds of plastic waste separated for recycling in the UK is currently sent abroad for processing and that 105,000 tonnes of UK plastic was imported by Malaysia alone in 2017-18; recognises that many of the countries in the Global South receiving the UK's rubbish have high rates of plastic waste mismanagement; further notes that the National Audit Office warned in 2018 that millions of tonnes of plastic sent abroad for recycling may be being dumped in landfill; is extremely concerned that the sight of piles of plastic rubbish generated in the UK is becoming increasingly common across the Global South; strongly condemns the practice of leaving some of the world's poorest people to deal with the UK's plastic waste; notes the Government should not pass the buck to the Global South on plastic, instead dealing with our own waste on UK soil; and backs campaign group A Plastic Planet's calls for a complete ban on plastic waste exports to the developing world.

Sponsored by:
Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat)