In addition to the “enormous” availability of scrap as input and of “green” funds for investment, there has been rising governmental and public awareness around the world of the need to tackle plastics scrap. With commitment and “bold steps” from entrepreneurs, he stated, “each of us can profit immensely by engaging in plastics recycling” while at the same time “making the world a better place to live”.
Nevertheless, the immediate future for plastics scrap remains more clouded, as evidenced by market reports from experts addressing the Plastics Committee meeting, which was held in London on October 6. As Mr Patawari Borad himself acknowledged: “First it was China which placed restrictions on imports of plastics scrap. It was followed by restrictions in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. Now it is India to where you cannot export the goods, primarily because import licences have not been extended.”
According to BIR, Steve Wong, Executive President of the China Scrap Plastics Association, spoke of a “buyer’s market” in China and of the need to “raise recycling rates and not just collection”. Recycling operations have shifted to other South East Asian countries which do not have the infrastructure to cope with imports of millions of tonnes of plastics scrap, he said.
