Since January 1st, the amendment for plastics has also been in force, the objective of which is to reduce the export and import of those waste plastic materials that may pose a problem for the health of people or for the environment when transported from one country to another to give them a certain use (mechanical recycling, incineration, etc.).

“These plastic wastes, in order to be transferred across the borders of two countries, must meet a series of requirements described in the Basel Convention in order to be transported and for the receiving countries to accept their entry,” explains Neus Soriano, head of the Characterization Laboratory at AIMPLAS, the Technological Institute of Plastics.

A recent audit conducted by ENAC at AIMPLAS laboratories has expanded the scope of its accreditation to include a set of tests required for the export of plastic waste. This means that AIMPLAS analyzes certain properties of these materials to characterize them for customs inspection: flammability, corrosiveness and reactivity, identification, toxicity, and radioactivity.