China’s ban of imported recyclable waste and its impact on the waste plastic recycling industry in China and Taiwan

In 2017 the Chinese government announced to a ban on the importation of several kinds of recyclable waste that could be replaced by domestic recyclable waste. Current research on this subject has placed an emphasis on the issues faced by exporting countries and Southeast Asia as an alternative desti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of material cycles and waste management Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 73 - 82
Main Author Yoshida, Aya
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Tokyo Springer Japan 01.01.2022
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Circular economy
Civil Engineering
Engineering
Environmental Management
Exports
Global economy
Household wastes
Importation
Imports
Original Article
Plastic debris
Plastics recycling
Recycling
Recycling centers
Waste Management/Waste Technology
Waste recycling
Southeast Asia
China
Taiwan
Circular economy
Foreign waste ban
Waste trade
Recycled pellets
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Summary:In 2017 the Chinese government announced to a ban on the importation of several kinds of recyclable waste that could be replaced by domestic recyclable waste. Current research on this subject has placed an emphasis on the issues faced by exporting countries and Southeast Asia as an alternative destination of plastic wastes. However, there has been little study on changes in the waste recycling industry in China and other export destinations such as Taiwan. In this study, I conducted a field survey in China and Taiwan and reviewed the history of Chinese recyclable waste import policy and its impacts on plastic recycling industries. The results show that China switched from directly importing waste plastics from exporting countries to importing recycled pellets via third-party countries, primarily from Southeast Asia. Although Taiwan’s import volume of waste plastics has increased since 2018, improper (i.e. illegal) imports such as those commonly reported in Southeast Asian countries have not been reported in Taiwan. Even after Taiwan implemented tightened import controls in October 2018, it was still able to import enough recycled waste to meet domestic demand. The case of Taiwan shows that proper import controls can contribute to a more sustainable global circular economy.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
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ISSN:1438-4957
1611-8227
DOI:10.1007/s10163-021-01297-2