UK waste company fined for China export violation

A London court has fined a United Kingdom waste management company 350,000 pounds ($431,000) for attempting to export contaminated household waste to China.

Wood Green Crown Court ordered Biffa Waste Services to pay the fine and an additional 249,912 pounds in legal fees for the infraction that occurred in 2015.

Back then, Biffa had arranged to export almost 11,000 metric tons of waste paper to two paper mills in Shenzhen and Guangdong. Part of the shipment never left Britain following an investigation carried out by the UK Environmental Agency, or EA.

Although marked as waste paper, the contents of seven 25-ton containers included soiled diapers, food packaging, clothing, bags of feces, wood, tin cans, plastic bottles, and electric cable.

"We are pleased with the court's decision," said Malcolm Lythgo, head of waste at the EA. "Illegal waste export blights the lives and environment of those overseas. We continue to treat illegal waste exports as a priority and will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those found to break the rules."

Richard Banwell, the lawyer defending Biffa, argued that the UK needs clearer guidance on contamination protocols. He also emphasized the important role that exporters play in the UK, where just 41 percent of waste paper is processed on home soil.

The ruling follows two other recent disputes connected to UK waste exportation practices. In September, Malaysian officials said they had found contaminants in 42 containers of plastic waste that will now be sent back to Britain.

"We're taking steps to ensure that this waste is safely returned and working closely with the Malaysian authorities to investigate and ensure we strengthen our joint working to tackle illegal exports," said a spokesperson for the Environmental Agency.

In August, Indonesia repatriated 19 containers of waste paper to the UK, after customs officials allegedly found rubbish, plastic waste, and "hazardous materials" mixed in with the shipment.

Countries in Southeast Asia have been flooded with foreign waste shipments ever since China stopped accepting a range of imported waste on environmental grounds.

Exporters are straining the processing capabilities of other Asian nations by sending them waste that previously would have gone to China, which received almost half of global plastic waste exports before the ban.

In response, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam have all restricted plastic waste imports, although the Malaysian government has said shipments continue to arrive illegally.

Indonesia is still accepting waste imports, which more than doubled in 2018 in comparison to the previous year, prompting the government to tighten industry regulations in July.

High-income nations account for 87 percent of global plastic waste exports, according to a study by the University of Georgia in the US, and three-quarters of all exported waste is sent to the East Asia and Pacific region.