The UK could end its reliance on exporting plastic waste by 2030 to support the creation of 5,400 new jobs and take responsibility for the environmental impact of its waste, according to research.
The report said up to 15 new recycling facilities could be built by the end of the decade, attracting more than £800m of private investment. The increase in capacity would help generate almost £900m of economic value every year, providing at least £100m in new tax revenues annually.
The report, by the consultancy Hybrid Economics, comes as Britain’s plastic exports rose by 5% in 2024 to nearly 600,000 tonnes of waste.
Exporting plastic creates environmental problems for many countries that receive it, as they do not have the ability to recycle it. It also removes valuable feedstock for a British recycling industry, the report argues.
Campaigners want the closure of the loophole that makes it cheaper to export plastic waste rather than recycle it in the UK. Exports have soared in the first part of this year to Indonesia – a country struggling with an environmental crisis from plastic pollution – in particular, amounting to more than 24,000 tonnes.
The report said that by exporting the unprocessed plastic waste it produced, the UK was evading its responsibility to deal with its own waste and denying itself an economic opportunity.
The Guardian revealed last month that, in the past two years, 21 plastic recycling and processing factories across the UK have shut down owing to the scale of exports, the cheap price of virgin plastic and an influx of cheap products from Asia.
Neville Hill, a partner at Hybrid Economics, which produced the report, said the UK was only using half of its potential for recycling plastic waste.
“Ending exports of unprocessed plastic packaging waste by 2030 would allow the UK to take control of its environmental responsibilities and seize a clear economic opportunity,” he said. “Our analysis shows the sector can expand significantly with no call on public funds, provided government sets the right framework.”
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The way payments are made up at present incentivises the export of plastic waste, rather than encouraging businesses to keep it in the UK to be recycled.
James McLeary, the managing director of Biffa Polymers, which commissioned the report, said the company had recycled 10bn plastic HDPE milk bottles in the last 20 years. He described this as a circular economy success story.
“The lesson is simple,” he said. “When the right conditions are in place, UK recycling grows, investment follows and the environmental and economic benefits build year after year. The UK can replicate that success across all plastic packaging and take responsibility for processing its own waste onshore.”
The report is calling for an increase in the plastic packaging tax, which is imposed on producers who fail to include at least 30% of recycled plastic in their products, to 50% and a total phasing out of exports of unprocessed plastic packaging waste.
