The Netherlands does not support a total ban on shipping plastic waste to countries outside the European Union. This is evident from internal correspondence from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, seen by NRC.
Such a ban is on the table this week during negotiations in the European Union. The European Parliament wants a ban on exporting plastic waste to countries outside the OECD, and also wants to stop exporting plastic waste to all countries outside the EU within a few years.
The Netherlands is Europe’s largest exporter of plastic waste, as research shows The Plastic Soup Foundation. It exports around two hundred million kilos of plastic waste to non-Western countries every year. More than half of this goes on ships to Indonesia and Vietnam. The fact that the Netherlands ships so much plastic waste is mainly due to the large waste industry and the port of Rotterdam: neighboring countries also ship their waste to distant countries.
Fire letter
Various environmental organizations called on State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen (Infrastructure, CDA) in an urgent letter on Wednesday to speak out in favor of a complete ban on the export of plastic waste outside the European Union. This includes Recycling Network Benelux, the Plastic Soup Foundation and Natuur & Milieu.
They refer to the position of the European Parliament. Earlier this year, it took the position by a large majority that the export of waste outside the EU should stop within a few years.
The European Commission had previously advocated milder new legislation. Waste exports would not be banned, but countries would have to give explicit permission to receive plastic waste and properly substantiate that they process the waste according to European standards. The European Council, the Commission and Parliament are currently negotiating what the legislation will look like.
In fact, the position of the Netherlands and the other member states in the European Council has already been determined. Nevertheless, the NGOs hope that the Netherlands, like France last week, will still argue for an export ban. “The Netherlands has a strong voice and a greater responsibility because we export so much plastic waste,” says Janine Röling, researcher at environmental organization Recycling Netwerk. “The fact that the Netherlands specifically does not want an export ban suggests that the interests lie with finances and not with protecting the environment and people in receiving countries. Waste often ends up in the illegal circuit, it is dumped and fires start at illegal dumps. It ends up in water and food. It’s a problem we’d rather avoid by shipping it, rather than cleaning up our own mess.”
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is late NRC know that a ban is “not necessary”. With the additional measures advocated by the European Commission, “we can avoid exporting environmental problems, and that is the goal.”
The ministry does not want to exclude all countries outside the EU in advance, according to a spokesperson. International cooperation is also important to have sufficient recycling capacity.” The ministry also wants “waste transport to go to places where waste is recycled in a high-quality and environmentally responsible manner.”
NGOs counter that agreements to properly process waste are very difficult to monitor in practice.
According to the ministry, tightened rules for waste exports (instead of a ban) “are already pushing the limits of what is possible on the basis of existing international trade agreements such as the WTO.” Röling disagrees. “In the past, China has introduced an import ban on plastic waste, and Australia has introduced an export ban. And the European Parliament also thinks it is legally feasible.”
The attitude of the ministry is striking given the statements of State Secretary Heijnen’s predecessor: Stientje van Veldhoven (D66). In that role, she said at an environmental summit in Japan in 2019: “Western countries should no longer export plastic waste. Not to Malaysia, not to Indonesia, not anywhere. We should be able to process our own plastic waste ourselves, instead of sending it by boat to other parts of the world. We must make agreements about this internationally.”
At the end of October, a parliamentary motion to argue at European level for a ban on plastic waste exports outside the EU was rejected by a small majority. The CDA and VVD, among others, voted against.