USA corporations stop exporting plastic waste
Plastic waste: USA corporations such as Waste Management and Casella Waste Systems are responding to a call from Greenpeace to curb plastic pollution in regional environmental spheres.
American plastic waste should no longer end up in developing countries. A number of large waste managers have stopped exporting the plastic waste to countries outside North America, writes Greenpeace USA in a Communication.
This includes with Waste Management and Casella Waste Systems also two major companies in the U.S. waste industry.
The companies are responding to a request from Greenpeace USA. Casella Waste Systems has considered itself a pioneer in sustainable waste management and recycling for decades, CEO John Casella is quoted as saying in the release. That's why his company supports Greenpeace's demand, he said.
Not yet a universal solution
For Greenpeace, stopping exports still doesn't go far enough. Waste Management and Casella made the right decision, John Hocevar, director of Greenpeace USA's Clean Oceans Campaign, is quoted as saying in the release.
But he said sending the plastic to landfills, burning it or turning it into fuel is also not the answer. "It's time to stop producing so much single-use plastic," Hovecar said.
The U.S. exported a total of 1.1 million tons of plastic waste in 2018 alone. Of that, 78 percent went to countries with weak waste management systems. This high share is also a result of China's 2018 ban on waste imports, writes Greenpeace USA, citing a report by the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. Exporters therefore shifted to countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.
