China’s plastic waste import ban forcing US and Japan to rethink options
- Research in the US suggests ban will leave 111 million tons of plastic trash displaced by 2030, while waste that used to be exported is piling up in Japan
- Export of waste from the West to Malaysia, Vietnam and India surges, but illegal dumping prompts calls to follow China and impose restrictions
China’s ban on imports of plastic waste is forcing nations like Japan and the United States to scramble as they look for new ways to deal with their trash, including exporting recyclable waste to Southeast Asia.
But instead of finding solutions, it appears the problem of disposing of recyclables has only become exacerbated, especially with the exploitation of developing countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, which lack the regulatory infrastructure to prevent illegal dumping.
The ripple effects of developed nations being banned from shipping their scrap waste to China, previously the world’s biggest importer of plastic waste for recycling, have also surfaced in Japan.
Waste management companies are being flooded with requests to handle the extra plastic waste but many have reached their legal limits.
“The storerooms of intermediary companies are filled to the brim with garbage from businesses and factories,” said one official from a waste management company in Kanagawa prefecture.