RVK Newscast #150: Iceland’s Plastic Shame

In this 150th episode of Reykjavík Grapevine’s Newscast, editor-in-chief Valur Grettisson brings you a special breaking news story regarding Iceland’s plastics recycling - or as it turns out, lack thereof. [TRANSLATED TEXT IN SUBTITLES, PLEASE TURN ON CC!]

Bjartmar Alexandersson, who you may know from our show ‘The Icelandic Perspective’, is an investigative reporter with media outlet Stundin. He has a particular interest in researching and investigating crimes around waste management – something that has been growing globally in recent years. Recently, Bjartmar received a tip and travelled to Southern Sweden to discover a mountain of Icelandic plastic that was never recycled – although consumers, as well as the companies in Iceland, had paid for it to be so.

The amount of plastic is truly shocking, and it’s likely that it represents around 60% of all Icelandic plastic recycling exported to Sweden in 2016. But It’s still there, and Bjartmar now has the footage to show it. Valur met with Bjartmar on Friday 10th of December, the day the story broke, to speak to him about the case and find out his thoughts on what the impact of this story may be.

You can read Bjartmar’s reporting on this case on Stundin. The article is in Icelandic but can be translated into English: https://stundin.is/grein/14445/islenska-plastsyndin-fundin-i-svithjod/

Additional video by Davíð Þór Guðlaugsson

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