Filth, corruption and graft in recycling industry

National Audit Office confirms recycling sham

Mikko Paunio's recent GWPF report revealed the widespread concern within the waste management industry that much material collected for "recycling" is in fact ending up in the oceans, having been shipped to the Far Eastern countries with entirely inadequate waste management systems. A report at the weekend showed that large quantities are also ending up in Poland, where they are being burnt in primitive fires that release polluting smoke and toxins into the environment.Today the National Audit Office has issued a report that confirms that recycling policy is, to a considerable extent, a sham:

[The system] relies on exporting materials to other parts of the world without adequate checks to ensure this material is actually recycled, and without consideration of whether other countries will continue to accept it in the long-term. Despite it now being 20 years since the system was established, the Department does not know what value the system has added nor whether the Agency’s approach to tackling the risks of fraud and error is proportionate. Our overall sense is that over a long period government has allowed the obligations to keep rolling forward without asking the important questions.

Once again, the urge to fight global warming is revealed to be the cause of appalling damage to the natural world and the source of considerable opportunities for graft and corruption.