Household waste from U.K. dumped in India, reveals TV report

London, Sept 8 (PTI) Household waste collected weekly
across Britain for recycling is being shipped and dumped in
India, according to an investigation by ITV’s 'Tonight
programme'.

As part of country's efforts to go green and improve the
environment, U.K. councils ask households to carefully
separate waste into different categories: plastics, metal,
paper and glass so that they all can be recycled.
But, according to the investigation, they were shipped to

India on the waste black market, which is cheaper. It costs up
to 148 pounds to recycle a tonne of rubbish once it is
separated but only 40 pounds to ship it to India.
The investigation found that a receipt put into a paper

recycling bin in Essex turned up at the top of a stinking
rubbish mount in Tamil Nadu. It was traced to the
Walton-on-the-Naze home of Geoff Moore.

His receipt for CDs was found by investigators from ITV's
'Tonight' programme at a sprawling rubbish tip in Tamil Nadu.
They also found juice cartons, British newspapers, Walkers
crisp packets, U.K. school reports and plastic bags.

All U.K. councils are required to recycle. But after
householders separate their rubbish and bin workers collect
it, councils pass it on to waste firms, who in turn use
subcontractors. They are under no obligation to reveal what
they actually do with it.

European Union law bans sending waste abroad for dumping
but allows it to go overseas if it has already been separated
and provided that it is actually recycled, according to the
Sunday Mirror.

The Environment Agency promised to investigate the
matter.

Paul Bettison of the Local Government Authority
Environment Board called for a change in the law and said "if
a contractor refuses to reveal where materials are being sold
it can undermine the whole process."