China trash ban is a global recycling wake up call

The ban has terrible consequences for some places.

Australia

The UK

The United States

The ban has been a massive wake-up call for countries

The UK

Australia

Other countries

The ban is prompting more investment into recycling technologies.

That's because China and other countries, including European countries, will still buy high-quality scrap material that can be recycled into new items. It's just the low-grade, more polluting stuff China doesn't want.

Some low-grade materials proved more difficult to move in the UK. some might be burned, rather than recycled.

The ban is disrupting global supply chains and may lead manufacturers to use new materials rather than recycled ones.

Hoards of low-grade plastic have been hanging around in storage, eventually heading for incineration

Sending recyclable waste to a landfill because it can no longer afford to recycle it.

UK have started talking about imposing taxes on some plastic items to make people use fewer materials.

Others, like Australia, have invested tens of millions of dollars to help local councils with the waste crisis.

India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Germany and the Netherlands, have stepped in to buy some of UK's trash, although at lower prices -- and not all of it.

The ban prompts the UK recycling industry had to start changing.


The quality of our material has to be better.

Slowing the recycling process down allows us to produce better-quality materials.

There is more investment in technology.