In the six-month period, look at the ban on "foreign garbage"

In the six-month period, look at the ban on "foreign garbage"

 Source: China Plastic machinery network 

China's ban on the import of waste plastics from abroad has been in effect for half a year. According to statistics, China imported 15 batches of waste materials in the first half of this year, of which 12 batches contained 58,227 tons of waste plastics. However, there is still no waste plastics in the recently released 15th batch of approvals. In 2017, a total of 11 batches of waste plastics were imported. By May 2017, a total of 7050562 tons were imported. Compared with the same period last year, this year's import volume is less than 1.5% of last year's. Relevant experts said at a recent meeting of the plastics industry that the import of domestic waste plastics has been basically eliminated and the import of waste plastics has become a thing of the past, but the international chain reaction triggered by China's ban on the import of waste plastics continues. Garbage Exporting Countries US It is understood that the pain caused to the United States by China's ban on foreign garbage continues, and various garbage dumps are still piling up. Although some U.S. waste companies have changed to dispose of recyclable materials at home or ship more materials to other countries, some waste companies have been unable to find a substitute market for China. Relevant personnel of a waste management company in the United States told the media: suddenly, there was nowhere to go for the waste collected in the streets. At a WTO meeting in Geneva this year, US representatives asked China to continue to import plastic waste, because China's ban on imports and restrictions on the import of recyclable goods have caused a fundamental disruption to the supply chain of waste materials, preventing them from being reused, which can create economic value, and can only be discarded. He demanded that China immediately stop implementing these measures and adjust them in a way that conforms to the existing international trade standards for waste materials. In response, the Chinese representative said that China would stop importing another 32 types of garbage. Garbage Exporter Britain When China first issued the ban, Britain transferred its plastic waste to other countries and regions, including the amount of waste exported to Malaysia The volume is 3 times that of the past, the export volume to Vietnam has increased by 50%, while the amount of garbage received by Thailand has soared to 50 times that of the past. In addition, Britain's export of garbage to Taiwan has also increased by more than 10 times. Exporting garbage to other countries and regions can only alleviate Britain's current pressing needs and cannot fundamentally solve the problem of foreign garbage. To this end, Britain has also issued a series of policies aimed at completely eliminating foreign garbage. The British Prime Minister declared a high-profile war on plastic waste in February this year: eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years. In St. Helena, a British overseas territory, the British government has launched a plan to reduce and monitor plastic pollution in St. Helena's South Atlantic islands. The goal of the plan is to reduce the amount of plastic used by residents on the island and to establish a plastic recycling system. Garbage Exporter Japan According to Japanese media reports, all parts of Japan are now filled with plastic garbage. The reason is that China, once the main export destination of waste plastics, has imposed import restrictions, resulting in Japan's recycling cannot catch up at all. On the other hand, worldwide campaigns such as refusing to use disposable plastic products and strengthening supervision measures are also being carried out. The report also said that Japan's immediate solution can only be exported to other countries or burned. Since this year, Japan has increased its exports to Thailand and Vietnam, but it is far from making up for the amount originally exported to China. Moreover, the Thai government has also said that import restrictions will soon be issued due to successive illegal disposal of resource wastes from Japan. Incineration of plastic waste can also cause problems. Classified and recycled garbage can be recycled and used as fuel to generate heat energy for power plants. If it is burned directly, garbage classification will lose its meaning. Moreover, the high temperature generated during plastic combustion may also damage the incinerator. Even in the process of incineration, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released, aggravating climate warming. About 70% of the waste plastics in Japan have been incinerated, and the proportion of incineration cannot be increased any more. A senior Japanese government official said that Japan plans to take the issue of waste plastics as one of the main topics at the G20 summit to be chaired by Japan next year, to formulate a national strategy for waste plastics countermeasures at the G20 level, and hopes Japan can contribute to the construction of a framework mechanism that includes developing countries. Southeast Asian Countries as Garbage Importers Since China imposed a ban on foreign waste, Southeast Asian countries have become new dumping grounds for plastic waste in waste exporting countries. As mentioned above, Britain alone exports 3 times more waste to Malaysia, 50 times more to Vietnam and 50 times more to Thailand. The influx of a large amount of plastic waste has caused great damage to the ecological environment of Southeast Asian countries. Under the attack of a steady stream of foreign waste, Philippines and Vietnam have now become countries with serious pollution. In order to change this situation, some Southeast Asian countries are also considering a ban on the import of plastic waste. Vietnam stopped accepting waste plastics for four months in late June due to the excessive backlog of containers to be processed. Malaysia is also reviewing its import policy for plastic waste products. Thailand has banned the import of waste plastics and electronic waste since July 2. Thailand will also plan to inspect 2,240 plastic recycling factories, search for illegal import of electronic waste and other violations of the environment and labor law, as well as import licenses. From this point of view, it is very difficult for the garbage exporting countries headed by Europe and the United States to continue to export large quantities of plastic garbage to Southeast Asian countries. Conclusion Exporting the plastic wastes produced in our country to other countries to reduce the impact on our own environment can only be done for a short time and cannot fundamentally solve the problem. In order to fundamentally solve the problem of plastic waste, it is necessary to adopt advanced technologies to recycle and reprocess plastic and other wastes, establish and perfect a plastic recycling system, or use degradable and pollution-free environmentally friendly materials, so as to fundamentally stop plastic pollution.