China's import ban on recyclables - disaster or opportunity?
Imports of recyclable materials were one of the driving factors of China's rapid economic growth as the world's factory. It was cheaper for China to recycle and use the recycled materials than to create materials from scratch.
However, this recycling practice lead to many Chinese villages using recycling as a means of income, which sounds good enough, right? Well, it came with harsh consequences such as severe environmental pollution and the development of "cancer villages" due to that pollution. There were growing environmental concerns and for this reason China's waste import ban became reality.
Before the ban China alone was responsible for roughly half of the world's plastic imports. You might say: "Well, that's China for you," but if you think about it, for the past 30 years that was above 150 million metric tons of plastic waste. To accentuate the magnitude of this, that's 150 000 000 000 kg of plastic. Not quite insignificant if you ask me.
How is that relevant for the rest of the world? As you might've already figured out, China's waste import ban means that other countries would need to find another recipient for their waste. Plastic pollution had been an issue to Southeastern Asia even before the ban, but ever since it came into power, countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have become the substitutes for China, as seen on the image below.
One would think this is a complete disaster, since, well, it is a disaster. On the other hand, it is an opportunity, even though it has presented itself in a harsh and abrupt manner. It is an opportunity to prevent an even greater calamity. Now that awareness of the issue has been raised, the countries that have been heavily relying on exporting their recyclables and counting that to their recycling rate actually have to work toward expanding their local recycling infrastructure.
Yes, the recycling rate will probably drop since more material might be discarded, yes, it will cost more to create an effective recycling system, but doing that will secure a future without this much ocean pollution, and one that is less reliant on landfills and raw materials.
More on the peculiarity of the recycling rate in the next post!
However, this recycling practice lead to many Chinese villages using recycling as a means of income, which sounds good enough, right? Well, it came with harsh consequences such as severe environmental pollution and the development of "cancer villages" due to that pollution. There were growing environmental concerns and for this reason China's waste import ban became reality.
Before the ban China alone was responsible for roughly half of the world's plastic imports. You might say: "Well, that's China for you," but if you think about it, for the past 30 years that was above 150 million metric tons of plastic waste. To accentuate the magnitude of this, that's 150 000 000 000 kg of plastic. Not quite insignificant if you ask me.
How is that relevant for the rest of the world? As you might've already figured out, China's waste import ban means that other countries would need to find another recipient for their waste. Plastic pollution had been an issue to Southeastern Asia even before the ban, but ever since it came into power, countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have become the substitutes for China, as seen on the image below.
One would think this is a complete disaster, since, well, it is a disaster. On the other hand, it is an opportunity, even though it has presented itself in a harsh and abrupt manner. It is an opportunity to prevent an even greater calamity. Now that awareness of the issue has been raised, the countries that have been heavily relying on exporting their recyclables and counting that to their recycling rate actually have to work toward expanding their local recycling infrastructure.
Yes, the recycling rate will probably drop since more material might be discarded, yes, it will cost more to create an effective recycling system, but doing that will secure a future without this much ocean pollution, and one that is less reliant on landfills and raw materials.
More on the peculiarity of the recycling rate in the next post!
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