© Global Look Press / Grant Falvey
One year ago, the Chinese government implemented its 'National Sword' policy, which put a stop to the massive flow of recyclable plastic waste from Western countries. Plastic imports to China were down 99 percent in the first year since the new import restriction came into force.
Until the Chinese ban, the US, UK, Germany and Japan were among the biggest exporters of plastic to China. The new rules forced them to look elsewhere to send their plastic recyclables. UK exports to Malaysia nearly tripled, while exports to Thailand were 50 times greater. The US is the biggest plastic exporter to Malaysia, sending 195,444 tonnes between January and July 2018.
But the Chinese and Indian bans have shown that exporting plastic waste is unsustainable - and Thailand and Malaysia, too, have announced bans, not wanting to continue on as the dumping ground for the world's plastic waste. While the short-term solution to the problem for Western countries has been to find alternative markets, the long-term solution, in the words of UK environment secretary Michael Gove, is to "stop offshoring our dirt."
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