the grass is always greener on the other side? Only if we keep it this way: for many years rich countries have been "throwing" their garbage in the "yard" of other, poorer countries; But recently the European Union took an environmental-social turn and began promoting legislation that would limit the plastic export of the countries in its territory. Does Israel have anything to learn from Europe on this issue?
Imagine a completely normal morning: while you are making coffee in the kitchen, you notice that the garbage can is overflowing. You are looking for culprits - who didn't throw the bag? - then they have to take her out of the bin, tie her up and put her by the door. Later you leave the house with the bag in your hand, walk with it to the nearest post office, ask them to pack it and send it to Turkey.
Sounds a bit weird, doesn't it? Well, in the recycling industry, this phenomenon is not at all rare: about 67 million tons of waste are transported every year between the countries of the European Union, and another 33 million tons are exported outside its territories - to poorer countries.
But it is possible that this problematic phenomenon is about to change for the better: In the days these The European Union Parliament promotes legislation to limit the export of plastic for recycling carried out by the countries in its territories; This is mainly to prevent a situation where Europe's garbage is "thrown away" for the care of poorer countries.
Around the world in millions of tons of packaging
In the last 500 years, many countries in Asia, Africa and South America have suffered from the burden of European, Russian and American colonialism, whose damages include environmental consequences: among others, the exploitation of natural resources, Pollution and distribution Invading species.
One of the less talked about aspects of the phenomenon continues to occur in various forms even today: "garbage colonialism" (Waste Colonialism) – a term that describes the dumping of polluting substances by richer countries, in poorer countries. Often this situation involves the exploitation of the poorer countries - who do this for political, economic reasons or due to a lack of environmental knowledge and the lack of regulation on the subject, while they are unable to deal with the volumes of garbage they themselves create. A good example of a recycler worth paying attention to its garbage export is Germany - previously crowned by the World Economic Forum as "the best recycler in the world" - and she went out ב-2021 כ-766 Thousand tone Plastic For recycling Countries Others, with 50 thousand tons of which were sent to Malaysia and about 100 thousand tons to Turkey.
The legislation that is promoted in the European Parliament includes in it list Long של © : Prohibition on export trash Dangerous (which may release toxic gases, explode, etc.) - for countries outside the OECD, conditioning the export of non-hazardous waste (such as plastic for recycling) to countries outside the OECD by the receiving countries demonstrating their ability to treat waste in a sustainable manner, monitoring of exports to OECD countries In order to make sure that the treatment of waste is indeed sustainable and that the importation does not harm the state's ability to treat local waste, and even a ban on shipments of waste intended for landfill and disposal between the countries of the European Union - with the exception of unique cases.
According to Prof. Ofira Ilon, an expert on resource and waste management from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Management at the University of Haifa and the Shmuel Neman Institute at the Technion, if the bans do come into effect, it will have consequences for the conduct in Europe. "In the Union they will have to expand their recycling industries and the market to absorb the recycled products," she explains. "In fact, this is about promoting a circular economy: the recycled plastic will not be defined as waste, but as a resource - and will return to the market as a raw material."
The plastic reform
So what's the problem with interstate littering? The answers are many and varied. According to Elon, the cost of transporting plastic over long distances is high, not only financially but also environmentally - due to the emissions of air pollutants and carbon dioxide from the vehicles and ships that transport it in large quantities.
Moreover, in the cases of the export of garbage from rich countries to poor countries, the investment in transportation and the process - which involves the same high environmental price - sometimes does not lead to the desired result: due to the lesser regulation in the countries to which the plastic arrives (that is, the fact that the recycling process in them is less supervised), and due to a shortage In resources - sometimes the plastic is not recycled there at all. "We lack certain information on the subject, because many economic and political interests are involved," explains Elon, "but it is likely that part of the plastic is burned and used to generate energy, part is landfilled and only part is recycled."
Landfilling the plastic, burning it in an uncontrolled manner and throwing it into streams and canals are Actions ownership Consequences Difficult On the health and quality of life of the communities living in these areas, on the workers in the factories and on the environment. For example, in Malaysia, Indonesia and Turkey, residents and workers report pollution, the constant smell of burnt plastic - and health problems such as breathing difficulties, coughing, asthma and more.
Ariza's journey - the Israeli version
So we hear that in Europe significant steps are already being taken to deal with their plastic waste and to avoid "garbage colonialism" as much as possible. And what about us? "We have to remember that when we deal with 'plastic', we are talking about many different products and types of plastic," explains Elon. "For example, bottles are made of one material, the yogurt cups are made of another material, and the washing-up liquid is packaged in a third type of plastic. Each such material has different properties, and it requires different separation and recycling technologies." That is why some types are recycled here, and a very small percentage - for which Israel has not yet established sorting and recycling infrastructure - is exported for recycling abroad.
In Israel today there are several corporations that manage the recycling processes of plastic, metal and glass packaging, among the largest of which are TMR (Manufacturers Recycling Corporation in Israel) - which handles the packaging that we throw in the orange recycling bins, and Asofta Recycling Corporation Ltd. - which handles the beverage containers who owe a deposit. After our packages are transported to the sorting and processing stations of these corporations, they are transported a second time to the various recycling plants - in Israel and abroad.
"We estimate that about a quarter of the families in Israel currently separate the packaging into the orange bin, which is intended for plastic packaging, metal packaging and beverage cartons," stated T.M.I.R. "All these packages are collected by the local authorities and finally arrive at TMR's sorting stations in Rishon Lezion, Afula and Eilat - where they are sorted and transferred to continue the process in the recycling plants." According to TMR, there is a gap of up to 10 percent between the total amount of packaging that arrives at the sorting stations, and the amount that leaves the factories - according to them, due to depreciation (raw materials that are wasted in the process, for various reasons).
Of the total packaging that arrives at factories in a condition suitable for recycling, about 86 percent are recycled in Israel and the rest are multi-layer packaging - for which there is currently no suitable recycling plant in Israel: about 5 percent of these packaging are beverage cartons, which are sent to dedicated recycling plants in India - and these are actually the only packaging that T.M.Yir sends abroad; Other multi-layer packaging, such as snack or yogurt packaging, goes to factories where they are turned into fuel (RDF - Refuse-derived fuel, a fuel derived from dry waste). The fuel goes to the "Nesher" factories in Ramla, where it is used as a fuel substitute for the cement industry.
According to Asofta, about 300 million beverage containers arrive at their factories every year, where they are processed according to the raw material - for example, glass is broken, and aluminum cans are crushed - and then they are recycled. "Recycling plants in Israel and abroad pay the corporation for the beverage containers that they purchase from the corporation - and which are raw materials for them; We do not carry out landfills at all," the corporation said.
According to them, over 90 percent of the containers that are collected are recycled (in accordance with the requirements of the law) and about 40 percent of them are recycled in Israel. This figure indicates that the remaining 60 percent are indeed sent abroad. These containers go mainly to Germany and Italy, but also to other countries such as the Netherlands, Turkey, Austria and South Korea.
These numbers may seem impressive, but if you look at the big picture - this is only a tiny part of the plastic waste in Israel: in the bottom line, Only about 5 percent tank plastic waste our recycled How does that make sense?
Israel produces 1.37 million tons of plastic waste per year. Naturally, our recycling volumes measure behind these huge numbers. Therefore, many experts agree that this figure calls for a change in the method - and better sooner than later. "In order to improve the situation, we must remember that recycling is a means and not an end," emphasizes Elon. "From the beginning we have to produce less waste."
And what about exporting abroad? We may have to learn from the recent move of the European countries and take our own adapted steps - starting from finding substitutes for plastic packaging, through encouraging and educating them to reuse them, and ending with budgeting for local recycling infrastructures; This way we can avoid a situation where our packaging goes on an expensive trip - environmentally and financially - around the world.
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