Despite its size, the Netherlands is one of the world’s top plastic waste exporters. With Rotterdam as a key hub, vast amounts of plastic flow—often untraceably—to countries with poor recycling infrastructure. Weak enforcement and legal loopholes make this a high-profit, low-risk business. Where does all that waste go, and who pays the price?
Since China banned plastic waste imports from other countries in 2018, there has been an "alarming increase" in illegal waste shipments that, camouflaged through multiple transit countries, end up heading to Southeast Asia anyway. So writes Interpol in the...
In September 2010, the VROM Inspectorate issued a report on the enforcement of EVOA rules when exporting plastic waste from the Netherlands in 2009. The report shows, that in over 20% of the 350 cross-border shipments of plastic waste examined, environmental...