Shipping plastic bottles to China produces less CO2, says WRAP

A new study by environmental body WRAP released on August 19, 2008 has found that selling the UK’s used plastic bottles and paper for recycling in China saves carbon emissions.

Shipping these materials more than 10,000 miles produces less CO2 than sending them to landfill at home and using brand new materials.

The transport issue is just one factor in assessing the environmental impact of exporting materials for recycling.

Over the last ten years exports of used paper have risen from 470, 000 tonnes to 4.7 million tonnes.

Exports of used plastic bottles have gone from less than 40,000 tonnes to half a million tonnes over the same period.

Plastic bottles are also much in demand from China’s manufacturing industry and there is currently insufficient capacity in the UK to reprocess them in the UK.