Although
there is also a rapid growth in plastics consumption in the developing world,
plastics consumption per capital in developing countries is much lower than in
the industrialized countries. These plastics are, however, often produced from
expensive imported raw materials. There is a much wider scope for recycling in
developing countries due to several factors:
- Labor costs are lower.
- In many countries there is an existing culture of reuse and recycling, with the associated system of collection, sorting, cleaning and reuse of ‘waste’ or used materials
- There is often an ‘informal sector’ which is ideally suited to taking on small-scale recycling activities. Such opportunities to earn a small income are rarely missed by members of the urban poor
- Transportation costs are often lower, with hand or ox carts often being used.
- Innovative use of scrap machinery often leads to low entry costs for processing or manufacture.
In developing countries the scope for
recycling of plastics is growing as the amount
of plastic being consumed increases.
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