Global plastic recycling rates ‘stagnant’ at under 10%: Study

PARIS: The amount of plastic being recycled around the world is stagnant at less than 10 per cent with most new plastic still made from fossil fuels, a new study said on Thursday.

Researchers from Tsinghua University in China said the rate of recycling had barely budged even as plastic production had exploded, presenting a “pressing global environmental challenge”.

Their findings, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, come as nations prepare to battle again over a treaty to address plastic pollution after the last round of negotiations failed to broker an agreement.Plastic has been found in the depths of the remotest oceans and in snow atop the highest mountains, and tiny particles have been detected in blood and breast milk. Yet despite growing concern, there has been “a notable lack of comprehensive analysis of plastics along their supply chain”, wrote Quanyin Tan and colleagues.

To address this, they drew on national statistics and other data to create the first detailed global analysis of the plastics sector in 2022 from manufacture to disposal.

They found that just 9.5 per cent of the 400 million tonnes of new plastic in 2022 was produced from recycled materials. “The global recycling rate remained stagnant... reflecting little improvement from previous years.” The rest was produced from fossil fuels, predominantly oil and gas, demonstrating “little progress” in addressing environmental concerns related to plastics production. — AFP