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China And Plastic Waste
In January 2018, China enacted its “National Sword” policy which banned the import of most plastics and other materials headed for that country’s recycling processors. Those processors had handled nearly half of the world’s recyclable waste for the past quarter century. China took this step because the deluge of soiled and contaminated materials was overwhelming its processing facilities and creating yet another environmental problem for the country, this time not even of its own making.
Prior to China’s ban, 95% of the plastics collected for recycling in
the European Union and 70% in the U.S. were sold and shipped to Chinese
processors. A combination of favorable
rates for shipping in cargo vessels that carried Chinese goods abroad and low
Chinese labor rates made it a very profitable enterprise.
Before China’s ban, only 9% of globally discarded plastics were being
recycled and 12% were burned. The rest
ended up in landfills or simply dumped into the environment. Over the coming decade, as many as 11 million
tons of plastic will have to find a new place to be processed or otherwise
disposed of. There is already evidence
that plastic waste is accumulating in countries that are dependent on
exporting. In many places, including a
number of American cities, there are curtailed collections and new restrictions
on what kinds of plastics are accepted.
Some experts are hopeful that China’s ban might actually have an
upside if it leads to better solutions for managing the world’s waste. North America and Europe need to expand
processing capabilities and manufacturers need to make their products more
easily recyclable. Mostly, the Chinese
ban should be a wake-up call to the world on the need to greatly reduce
single-use plastics.
**********
Web Links
Piling Up: How China’s Ban on Importing Waste Has Stalled Global Recycling
Photo, posted August 8, 2017, courtesy of Sino-German Urbanisation Partnership via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
View all episodes
By Randy Simon
4.7
1515 ratings
In January 2018, China enacted its “National Sword” policy which banned the import of most plastics and other materials headed for that country’s recycling processors. Those processors had handled nearly half of the world’s recyclable waste for the past quarter century. China took this step because the deluge of soiled and contaminated materials was overwhelming its processing facilities and creating yet another environmental problem for the country, this time not even of its own making.
Prior to China’s ban, 95% of the plastics collected for recycling in
the European Union and 70% in the U.S. were sold and shipped to Chinese
processors. A combination of favorable
rates for shipping in cargo vessels that carried Chinese goods abroad and low
Chinese labor rates made it a very profitable enterprise.
Before China’s ban, only 9% of globally discarded plastics were being
recycled and 12% were burned. The rest
ended up in landfills or simply dumped into the environment. Over the coming decade, as many as 11 million
tons of plastic will have to find a new place to be processed or otherwise
disposed of. There is already evidence
that plastic waste is accumulating in countries that are dependent on
exporting. In many places, including a
number of American cities, there are curtailed collections and new restrictions
on what kinds of plastics are accepted.
Some experts are hopeful that China’s ban might actually have an
upside if it leads to better solutions for managing the world’s waste. North America and Europe need to expand
processing capabilities and manufacturers need to make their products more
easily recyclable. Mostly, the Chinese
ban should be a wake-up call to the world on the need to greatly reduce
single-use plastics.
**********
Web Links
Piling Up: How China’s Ban on Importing Waste Has Stalled Global Recycling
Photo, posted August 8, 2017, courtesy of Sino-German Urbanisation Partnership via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.
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