GAIA, with the help of core partners around the globe, did extensive research on the state of plastic recycling worldwide, and the immediate and potential long-term effects of China’s ban. Our research indicates that the only real way to solve the world’s plastic pollution crisis is to simply make less plastic. Our key findings include:
- Plastics producers are planning on flooding the markets with a massive scale-up over the coming decades, fueled by cheap fossil fuel extraction like shale gas.
- Companies are not only designing plastic to be difficult or impossible to recycle, but the overwhelming flood of new plastic into the market thwarts any chance of recycling keeping up.
- Wealthier societies like the US and Europe tend to recycle high-quality plastic domestically and export low-worth plastics to Asia, burdening these countries with the occupational and environmental health hazards that arise from processing these materials. Many times exporting countries have little idea of where their waste actually goes.
- China’s ban can instigate increased investment in domestic recycling capacity, but can also lead to increased plastic incineration and exportation to other Asian countries besides China, exposing their inhabitants to pollution.