The principle states that waste should be treated as closely as possible to where it is produced, and has been important in planning decisions for new waste management facilities in this country. It has also helped fuel criticism of the export of “waste” materials for recycling abroad.
According to figures from the British Recovered Paper Association and the Confederation of European Paper Industries, the amount of paper that has been exported for reprocessing has risen from about 424,000 tonnes in 1988 to 1.86 million in 2003.
” The proximity principle is outdated and obsolete and it leads predominantly to landfill. There isn't the capacity in this country to be recycling everything that is recovered “
– Philip Serfaty, Community Waste
Philip Serfaty, co-director of Community Waste, said that exports are continuing to rise and was likely to have reached 2.4 million tonnes in 2004.
Speaking at a CIWM open day at the Milton Keynes materials recycling facility last week, Mr Serfaty argued that the proximity principle was applied to hazardous waste more than 15 years ago, but that recyclable materials are not hazardous.
He said: “The proximity principle is outdated and obsolete, and it leads predominantly to landfill. There isn't the capacity in this country to be recycling everything that is recovered.”
“We have better collections now, which leads to an increased recovery. In 1988 the UK recovered 2.8 million tonnes of paper, that figure is now almost 6.5 million, but due to a stagnant market we are not increasing the amount (of recycled paper) that we produce,” he added.
Standards
Mr Serfaty pointed out that without exports, millions of tonnes of paper would have gone to landfill. And, he said that standards among the foreign reprocessors he dealt with was just as high as domestic companies. “We know every single customer we deal with – we visit their sites, they are no different to ours,” he said.
Community Waste is a joint venture between Yorkshire-based Cutts Recycling and London-based exports specialists Atlantic Paper. The company has been running the Milton Keynes MRF since October 2004.
” People immediately assume that shipping abroad leads to lower standards, but the companies I deal with have some of the best facilities in the world.“
– Philip Serfaty, Community Waste
The company's co-director said that the general public were being blinded by misinformation, and confused because while they feel the need to “do the right thing”, pressure groups confuse them into believing separated paper is “waste” that is being “dumped” abroad, rather than a commodity to be sold for use abroad.
Emotion
Mr Serfaty said: “There is a lot of emotion involved when talking about exports, people want to think they are doing the right thing. Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace can frighten people into thinking we are just dumping waste overseas. While they do a fantastic job raising green issues they must get their facts correct.
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“People immediately assume that shipping abroad leads to lower standards, but the companies I deal with have some of the best facilities in the world. They are environmentally as concerned as we are,” he added.
Many of these developing countries are going through their own industrial revolutions now, Mr Serfaty said, pointing out that today's industrial revolutions can learn from the mistakes of countries like the UK.
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