OECD: Governments need to encourage plastic recycling markets

Plastic recycling is failing to reach its full potential as low recovery rates of plastic waste, poor quality of recycled plastic and a lack of price incentives are holding back secondary plastic markets, according to a new report. Governments should act urgently to encourage more and better recycling.
The report attributes the lag on the fact that it is still cheaper to make new plastic than to produce recycled plastic. Moreover, primary plastic can be priced much higher than recycled plastic as it tends to be of much better quality. Issues with the presence of hazardous chemical additives that can survive in recycled plastic also weigh on secondary markets (News Item OECD, 24 May 2018).
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Click here to read the report online.
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