PLASTIC RECYCLING IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES

Environmentally sound management of plastic waste requires carefully designed municipal and industrial waste collection, separation, and cleaning or pre-treatment systems before the main process of recycling can be undertaken. In wealthy countries, these systems range from poor to adequate and mirror the relatively poor recycling rates for most polymer types. However, in low-income countries very little of this ‘front end’ infrastructure exists, or if it does, it looks very different to that of wealthy countries. In low-income countries, much of the collection and separation is conducted by waste pickers.

Waste pickers are often very low paid, vulnerable populations who handpick recyclable material from the streets, from openly dumped waste, and from landfills as new waste loads arrive. They usually have no effective protective equipment and are exposed to contaminated materials, disease, and risk of injury. Despite their vulnerability and informal approach to gathering recyclables from waste, they are surprisingly effective and in some countries are at the forefront of national recycling efforts. In general terms, their motivation is not to protect the environment; they have far more pressing concerns, such as paying for food and shelter to survive. They must innovate to survive, and through their informal networks, have developed some simple techniques for processing and separation of complex polymers.

In India, the informal plastic waste recycling sector has developed a range of identification and separation tests for different polymers, including BFR-contaminated plastics from WEEE. Some of the techniques are very dangerous when conducted repeatedly, such as the Beilstein test for identifying brominated plastics. This test involves heating copper wire in a cigarette lighter flame until glowing and bringing it into contact with a plastic flake, after which it is held in the flame again. A green flame indicates the presence of halogens and is characterized as a positive Beilstein test . Such a process has high potential to release toxic gases and brominated dioxins. Other separation tests based on flotation and differing density of polymers also allow for efficient separation without such acute risks (though contamination in processing areas is likely).

In Indonesia, some villages have turned to ‘plastic farming’ to supplement agricultural incomes. Bales of paper waste exported from the UK, Australia, and Canada contain a high degree of plastic waste contamination – a

Figure 9. Waste pickers, New Delhi.

small fraction of which has value as a recyclable polymer. The paper mills that import the bales for recycling dump truckloads of the plastic contaminants at local villages for a small fee or for free. Villagers pick through the waste and obtain a small amount of income for the recyclable content that supplements their agricultural income. However, the vast majority of the material is dumped and burned around the village. In some cases, the plastic waste is even burned for fuel in factories emitting black toxic smoke and contaminating the local environment.

Sampling of free-range chicken eggs by IPEN and partner organizations Ecoton and Nexus3 Foundation, in the villages of Tropodo and Bangun, Indonesia15, found that burning plastic waste in tofu kilns and in the open, respectively, caused serious food chain contamination (Figures 12 and 13). The levels of highly toxic dioxin found in the eggs were the among the highest ever recorded in Asia.

While there are some case studies of innovative techniques and efficient recycling, the reality for many waste pickers in developing countries is a life of poorly paid, risky, and dirty work. The impact of the waste they must sort through is contaminating their environment and their food chain, leading to exposure to toxic chemicals for generations to come. The current corporate push for capital-intensive, energy-intensive, high-tech chemical recycling will have little impact on the income, work conditions,

Figure 10. Grinding, float separation and sorting by informal recyclers, India.

and outcomes for waste pickers and their communities, who are collectors and not processors.

Implementation of environmentally sound waste management systems with adequate recycling infrastructure in low-income countries is certainly needed. Decent wages and protective conditions for recycling workers are also a necessity. Export of low-grade plastic waste from wealthy to low-income countries should be more tightly regulated by the implementation of the recently agreed Basel Convention plastics amendment. When the amendment enters into force in January 2021, this type of low value, mixed plastic waste will no longer be exportable from wealthy countries to low income countries with the prior informed consent of the importing party. For plastic waste that exhibits the characteristics of hazardous waste, export will be banned by the Basel Ban Amendment which came into force on 19th December 2019.16 However, even with all of this in place, it will not prevent large-scale plastic waste pollution of the environment. Only a cap on the unprecedented expansion of plastic production will begin to address the core issue of plastic waste.