I found the article on the export of plastic waste for recycling in the March 2022 issue of E&T of interest, particularly as in Coventry, where I live, there is currently a strike by household waste collection lorry drivers.
In common with other cities, Coventry has a waste incineration plant that provides heat energy for electrical generation and heating of civic buildings. Flue gases are treated to minimise pollution and the bottom ash has metals recovered by magnetic and eddy current processes before being used for road building or landfill cover. As the waste contains non-recyclable plastic waste the incineration process cannot be considered entirely carbon-neutral.
Councils separately collect recyclable material, aiming to meet imposed targets. Much of this is exported. As the article describes, exported plastic waste is not being properly treated in many cases. While we are stuck with single-use plastics it is surely...