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talkpoliticsSomething unexpected is happening with China. The Asian giant has gradually taken an increasingly active "green" role at the international stage. For decades, the other countries have been dumping their garbage their (the US Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries reports that 31% of its scrap exports have gone to China in 2017). But this practice is about to end. Earlier this year China banned the import of 24 types of garbage, including some types of plastic and paper, and two months ago they expanded the measures to dozens of types of recyclable materials, scrap steel among them, and also used car parts and ship components.
All of this has caused quite a turmoil among the global scrap industry. In the meantime, though, it also provides an opportunity for rethinking the global approach to garbage.
The ban will have enormous consequences for some countries that are still unable to adjust - they will need years to expand their recycling facilities. In result, the scrap heaps have started increasing in the developing economies that have no means of transporting them. For example, a city in Australia has decided to bury recyclable waste at a dung-hill, since recycling it would cost too much. In the UK, there are concerns that businesses are overstating the amount of plastic and paper they are recycling, and there are suspicions that part of the waste that is meant to be recycled, is actually dumped into the sea because it cannot be transported elsewhere. The measure has also led to problems in China itself, because it has deprived the producers of the recyclable materials they need. Some of them are considered more ecological and energy-saving to use, and their shortage could force the industries to revert to materials that are more harmful to the environment.
The upside is that the Chinese ban has served as a sobering shower to countries like the US, UK, Australia, Japan and others, who have long relied on China to solve their problems. The restriction was welcomed by environmentalists, who believe this is China's only way of cleaning itself and making other countries treat their waste better. There have been several proposals so far: the EU wants to introduce a special tax on plastic, the UK is trying to redirect part of its waste to South-East Asia, and the US has demanded that China lift the ban. In the meantime, the measure is stimulating increased investment in recycling technologies, which could transform the sector in the long run. At the end of the day, the ban will force the whole chain of delivery to change, from the initial product design, to the local waste collecting services of the companies that sort ot and recycle the waste.
Still, the problem remains for the time being. The main waste exporters are still trying to adapt. They haven't found an efficient short-term solution.
Before the ban, China used to be a global dung-hill for more than half the world's waste, and at its peak it used to import nearly 9 million tons of plastic scrap per year. The country has developed a processing and recycling industry, but the wrong treatment of waste the lack of efficient control has actually turned it into polluter number one. Now China is trying to clean up its air, water and earth by shutting down thousands of polluting productions and increasing the use of renewable energy. The Chinese Communist Party is under pressure from the emerging middle class, who has no intention to keep putting up with the side effects of the long-time deterioration of its living conditions, like smog in the cities and a waste-clogged nature.
The import of waste, including plastics, paper and metals, has dropped by 54% for the first quarter of this year (since the ban was introduced). Still, a University of Chicago research shows that there still a lot of work to be done, because the air pollution levels in China still exceed the WHO standards. The good news is that China has finally acknowledged its environmental responsibility, based on its domestic needs, namely the need to deal with pollution and especially the problem with the air quality. The Chinese know that the only way to develop their country is by solving this problem. But that would not be enough. China also has to demonstrate how it is planning to increase its ambitions and state clear goals and craft more categorical policies. Besides, China's problem is not just international (in the form of foreign imports of waste), but also domestic, and it is related to an effort to convince the local population that it is better to quit its old habits of using non-recyclable goods and dumping them to the scrap-heap, and start recycling instead.
For the first quarter of 2018, several South Asian countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have reported a surge in the waste imports, which shows some efforts to re-direct much of the waste there. In response, some of these countries have also introduced restrictions - Vietnam for example started issuing licenses for waste import since the beginning of the year. But in any case, these countries will not be able to fill the void that China has left behind.
Some major waste producers are now turning to cheaper options, like burying the waste. This way it turns out that the EU's waste could end up in East Europe, where the waste disposal fees are lower. And that part of the continent could become Europe's new dung-hill.
Instead of looking for the word's next dung-hill, though, the long-term solution should be sought at the very source, i.e. the West should do some effort to cut its waste output. Otherwise the problem will only continue to be swept under the rug for a while - and let's face it, no hole is deep enough to conceal it for too long.
All of this has caused quite a turmoil among the global scrap industry. In the meantime, though, it also provides an opportunity for rethinking the global approach to garbage.
The ban will have enormous consequences for some countries that are still unable to adjust - they will need years to expand their recycling facilities. In result, the scrap heaps have started increasing in the developing economies that have no means of transporting them. For example, a city in Australia has decided to bury recyclable waste at a dung-hill, since recycling it would cost too much. In the UK, there are concerns that businesses are overstating the amount of plastic and paper they are recycling, and there are suspicions that part of the waste that is meant to be recycled, is actually dumped into the sea because it cannot be transported elsewhere. The measure has also led to problems in China itself, because it has deprived the producers of the recyclable materials they need. Some of them are considered more ecological and energy-saving to use, and their shortage could force the industries to revert to materials that are more harmful to the environment.
The upside is that the Chinese ban has served as a sobering shower to countries like the US, UK, Australia, Japan and others, who have long relied on China to solve their problems. The restriction was welcomed by environmentalists, who believe this is China's only way of cleaning itself and making other countries treat their waste better. There have been several proposals so far: the EU wants to introduce a special tax on plastic, the UK is trying to redirect part of its waste to South-East Asia, and the US has demanded that China lift the ban. In the meantime, the measure is stimulating increased investment in recycling technologies, which could transform the sector in the long run. At the end of the day, the ban will force the whole chain of delivery to change, from the initial product design, to the local waste collecting services of the companies that sort ot and recycle the waste.
Still, the problem remains for the time being. The main waste exporters are still trying to adapt. They haven't found an efficient short-term solution.
Before the ban, China used to be a global dung-hill for more than half the world's waste, and at its peak it used to import nearly 9 million tons of plastic scrap per year. The country has developed a processing and recycling industry, but the wrong treatment of waste the lack of efficient control has actually turned it into polluter number one. Now China is trying to clean up its air, water and earth by shutting down thousands of polluting productions and increasing the use of renewable energy. The Chinese Communist Party is under pressure from the emerging middle class, who has no intention to keep putting up with the side effects of the long-time deterioration of its living conditions, like smog in the cities and a waste-clogged nature.
The import of waste, including plastics, paper and metals, has dropped by 54% for the first quarter of this year (since the ban was introduced). Still, a University of Chicago research shows that there still a lot of work to be done, because the air pollution levels in China still exceed the WHO standards. The good news is that China has finally acknowledged its environmental responsibility, based on its domestic needs, namely the need to deal with pollution and especially the problem with the air quality. The Chinese know that the only way to develop their country is by solving this problem. But that would not be enough. China also has to demonstrate how it is planning to increase its ambitions and state clear goals and craft more categorical policies. Besides, China's problem is not just international (in the form of foreign imports of waste), but also domestic, and it is related to an effort to convince the local population that it is better to quit its old habits of using non-recyclable goods and dumping them to the scrap-heap, and start recycling instead.
For the first quarter of 2018, several South Asian countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand have reported a surge in the waste imports, which shows some efforts to re-direct much of the waste there. In response, some of these countries have also introduced restrictions - Vietnam for example started issuing licenses for waste import since the beginning of the year. But in any case, these countries will not be able to fill the void that China has left behind.
Some major waste producers are now turning to cheaper options, like burying the waste. This way it turns out that the EU's waste could end up in East Europe, where the waste disposal fees are lower. And that part of the continent could become Europe's new dung-hill.
Instead of looking for the word's next dung-hill, though, the long-term solution should be sought at the very source, i.e. the West should do some effort to cut its waste output. Otherwise the problem will only continue to be swept under the rug for a while - and let's face it, no hole is deep enough to conceal it for too long.
(no subject)
Date: 4/6/18 10:51 (UTC)There's no pleasing some people.
(no subject)
Date: 4/6/18 18:39 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 4/6/18 23:32 (UTC)I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
(no subject)
Date: 10/6/18 08:09 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/6/18 10:05 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 5/6/18 02:01 (UTC)