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China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

bloomberg.com

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Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#11

Post by rmshea »

ribrars wrote: post #2

More like there was a huge trash problem and they don't want it anymore... how is them handing the world a problem when the root cause of the problem is unsustainable packaging and recyclables?

I think it should serve as a wake up call for the rest of the world. Sweden has had incredible success with recycling in recent years, most notably touting the fact that they import other countries' trash to use in their recycling plants [1]. How can we recreate Sweden’s model in the US and have our own solution to the trash problem instead of giving it to China?

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sweden-s-recycling...

EDIT: Fixed wording and added source. Sweden is buying other countries' trash, not selling theirs.

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#12

Post by r00fus »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #7

We need to stop making things out of plastic, where any alternative exists. The stuff is going to be the asbestos of the 21st century. Microplastic has been vastly, vastly underrated as a problem. All my lifetime the attitude has been that plastic takes eons to degrade and pulverize, but when it does, the problem of unsightly or dangerous litter is presumably finished. Now we're seeing the opposite: plastic dust is a…

Problem is, plastics are entirely a byproduct of the hugely dominant petrochemical industrial complex (sibling of Big Oil). Bioplastics exist, but the reason we use so much plastic instead of glass/paper is because it's cheap because it's actually a waste product of oil refinement.

Realistically, yes, it's poisonous (so are the superfund-sites-to-be we call gas stations, not to mention the offshore rigs, refinery sites, etc) but Big Oil is super powerful.

Is there any likelihood any of that changes?

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#13

Post by contactanother »

That's hilariously ironic because China is the biggest exporter of plastics.

1.) China: $17.9B (24.7% of exported plastic items)

2.) Germany $9B (12.4%)

http://www.worldstopexports.com/plastic-item-exports-country...

plastics are now drowning the ocean, choking fishes (which the Chinese fisherman has a habit of overfishing, even going out to other countries' sea to fish). not to mention coral diseases, as well as microfibers ingested by humans. And China just dump plastics into their rivers and out into the ocean. letting the other countries take care of them.

Also, interestingly, China's boom in the early 90s came from the fact that they lacked materials, and they had to take other countries waste in order to use the waste for materials for production. Now that China's boycotting waste, the other southeast asian countries are picking up the slack (and waste), and growing their own industrial capabilities. That's why now manufacturers usually have two or three different factories in different countries, lessening dependence on China, and ready to switch when they need to (like the impending $400 billion tariff on China)

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#15

Post by gowld »

contactanother wrote: post #13

That's hilariously ironic because China is the biggest exporter of plastics. 1.) China: $17.9B (24.7% of exported plastic items) 2.) Germany $9B (12.4%) http://www.worldstopexports.com/plastic-item-exports-country... plastics are now drowning the ocean, choking fishes (which the Chinese fisherman has a habit of overfishing, even going out to other countries' sea to fish). not to mention coral diseases, as well as mic…

I don't see the irony. World consumers asked for plastic. China provided it, and doesn't want to take it back.

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#16

Post by r00fus »

fredley wrote: post #10
JulianMorrison wrote: post #7

We need to stop making things out of plastic, where any alternative exists. The stuff is going to be the asbestos of the 21st century. Microplastic has been vastly, vastly underrated as a problem. All my lifetime the attitude has been that plastic takes eons to degrade and pulverize, but when it does, the problem of unsightly or dangerous litter is presumably finished. Now we're seeing the opposite: plastic dust is a…

I predict it won't be long before using non-biodegradeable plastic in any packaging or short-lived product will be banned. It's outrageous that everything is packaged in material that will almost certainly not be properly recycled, and end up in landfill or the ocean.

Bioplastics / biodegradable plastics are not a panacea:

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/bioplastics.html

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#17

Post by gowld »

JulianMorrison wrote: post #7

We need to stop making things out of plastic, where any alternative exists. The stuff is going to be the asbestos of the 21st century. Microplastic has been vastly, vastly underrated as a problem. All my lifetime the attitude has been that plastic takes eons to degrade and pulverize, but when it does, the problem of unsightly or dangerous litter is presumably finished. Now we're seeing the opposite: plastic dust is a…

If you are willing to wait eons to solve a problem, poisoning everyone is a fine solution.

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#18

Post by LargeWu »

rmshea wrote: post #11
ribrars wrote: post #2

More like there was a huge trash problem and they don't want it anymore... how is them handing the world a problem when the root cause of the problem is unsustainable packaging and recyclables?

I think it should serve as a wake up call for the rest of the world. Sweden has had incredible success with recycling in recent years, most notably touting the fact that they import other countries' trash to use in their recycling plants [1]. How can we recreate Sweden’s model in the US and have our own solution to the trash problem instead of giving it to China? [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sweden-s…

I thought Sweden was burning it for energy, not recycling it.

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#19

Post by reaperducer »

rmshea wrote: post #11
ribrars wrote: post #2

More like there was a huge trash problem and they don't want it anymore... how is them handing the world a problem when the root cause of the problem is unsustainable packaging and recyclables?

I think it should serve as a wake up call for the rest of the world. Sweden has had incredible success with recycling in recent years, most notably touting the fact that they import other countries' trash to use in their recycling plants [1]. How can we recreate Sweden’s model in the US and have our own solution to the trash problem instead of giving it to China? [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sweden-s…

touting the fact that other countries in fact buy their trash. How can we recreate Sweden’s model

Isn't this exactly the problem? Sweden isn't taking care of its own trash, but instead selling it to China, just like the US and many other countries?

Re: China is no longer importing waste – 111M tons will have to go elsewhere

#20

Post by mtw »

seanalltogether wrote: post #9

Seems like Northern Africa would be a pretty logical place for disposing waste. Lots of unused desert land very close to the sea for easy access by barge.

Isn't there a lot of desert land in the US as well? and easier access than going all the way to Northern Africa
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