Poland complained about “huge volumes” of cheap plastic from Russia

Poland imports huge amounts of virgin plastic; it enters the market, including from RUSSIA, despite sanctions , writes Interia, citing the Polski Recycling association.

Russian raw materials are becoming a cheaper alternative to plastic produced in the country, especially during recycling.

The EU, as part of the eighth package of sanctions against Moscow due to military actions in Ukraine , has banned from this year the import from Russia of primary polymers and products made from them (plastics) - plates, sheets, films, tapes, pipes, hoses, etc. According to the UN, the country supplied almost $1 billion worth of these materials to Europe in 2021. Russian authorities consider the sanctions illegal.

“The availability of competitive raw materials reduces the demand for material produced in Poland, obtained through processing,” the association said. Polski Recycling believes that the entry of Russian plastic into the market “significantly complicates the possibility of recycling waste” in the country; Poland is forced to pay duties and fines for non-compliance with EU standards.

The demand for plastics in Poland is approximately 4 million tons per year, or 7.5% of the total EU demand. Polski Recycling called the figure “terrible” given that most European countries are trying to limit the use of plastic; they noted that Warsaw, on the contrary, is increasing the use of plastic products.

The EU has been restricting the use of plastic for the past few years. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of government programs aimed at gradually eliminating plastic increased threefold, Euronews reports. In 2021, Brussels banned the production and sale of a number of single-use plastic products.

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