China has raised the drawbridge on incoming plastic and paper waste shipments from overseas, which it says is polluting the country's environment.
Shipping
Reuters reported this week (July 18th 2017) that the import ban will come into force by the end of the year and will include plastic waste, unsorted paper waste, slag from steelmaking, and other waste including ash and wool.
The news outlet revealed that in 2016, China imported 7.3 million tonnes of waste plastics at a value of $3.7 billion (€3.2 billion, £2.8 billion), accounting for 56 per cent of world imports. The majority of the plastic waste coming from outside of Hong Kong was delivered from Japan and the US.
"We found that large amounts of dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes are mixed in the solid waste that can be used as raw materials. This polluted China’s environment seriously," China’s World Trade Organisation filing was quoted by Reuters as saying.
"To protect China’s environmental interests and people’s health, we urgently adjust the imported solid wastes list, and forbid the import of solid wastes that are highly polluted."
China will be carrying out a wide scale survey of sources of pollution and is urging local authorities to launch local investigations to expedite the process.
