I was asked by residents if the decision by China to cease accepting imports of waste plastic (as reported in the media: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42455378) will affect Aberdeenshire Council’s recycling arrangements. Not in the short term, I’m assured.
Aberdeenshire Council has a contract in place for the collection, sorting and onward reprocessing of our mixed recycling (which includes plastics). The contractor does not export this waste to China and therefore in the short term we will not be impacted by this ban.
However it is likely, in the medium term at least, that the increase in plastic products in the reprocessing markets will decrease the income for this material and therefore increase our costs. Council officers have contacted our contractor to ask them for their view on the potential impact of this ban and are waiting to hear back from them.
UPDATE, 11 January: I have just had it confirmed that the council’s contractor has not exported any plastics to China for the last five years and therefore this ban will not affect us.