Now that China will no longer take it, the U.S. and other countries will have to deal with their own plastic waste

Recycling plastic is a challenge.  Over the past few decades, plastic “recycling” has in fact consisted–about half the time–of sending that plastic to China (often through Hong Kong).  China and Hong Kong “have imported 72% of all plastic waste.”

But, this route is now at an end.  As of January 2018, China has banned the import of “nonindustrial plastic waste.”  As a result, according to a recent study, “that will leave the world–mostly high-income countries–with an additional 111 million metric tons of plastic to deal with by 2030.”  And, these countries, especially the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Japan, and Germany “have no good way to handle it.”

As an example, in 2016 “the U.S. exported 56% of its plastic waste to China, an additional 32% went to Hong Kong” (and most of that then went to China).  The rest (12%) went to Mexico, Canada, and India.  And, much of that plastic waste ultimately also went to China.

With a permanent ban now in place, plastic recyclers in other countries like the U.S. are seeing “a globally cascading effect.”  Outside of China, “little infrastructure exists … to manage the rejected waste.”  Plastic is piling up.

Previous studies have indicated “that only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled”, the majority goes into the landfill or is thrown away into the oceans and on land.  In 2015, people threw out about 74% of all the plastic that was produced.  Changes are needed–in recycling programs, in how plastics are made, in how humans behave …

Read the article (Zoe Schlanger, Quartz, June 20, 2018).

 

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