Waste and recycling: Chokepoints and risks
Collecting, sorting and treating waste, returning metals, paper and plastics to use
Chokepoints and risks
- Volume growth outpaces capacity: municipal waste is set to rise from 2.1 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 20501.
- Open dumping: at least 33% of municipal waste was not managed in an environmentally safe way in 20164.
- Weak municipal finances delay payments to contractors, the main credit risk for private operators.
- Scrap and recyclate prices swing with steel, oil and Chinese demand, as do import rules.
- EPR policy changes can make or break recycler revenue overnight.