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China waste import ban deals with the import of several types of waste. Likewise, the main consequence of this ban is how it has affected other countries from exporting plastic waste to China. Since the twentieth century, China has been the world's largest importer of waste plastics. China has imported tens of thousands of waste plastics and has solved countless hard-to-recycle plastics for other countries.

Reason for the ban
China being the largest importer of waste plastics, account for 56% of the global market. Meanwhile, the United States, Japan, Germany, and the United Kingdom are the main source countries. Since 2010, China has begun to implement more stringent waste import policies that correspond with the quality of import waste and improvement of domestic production capacity. Likewise, environmental and health considerations have led China to introduce the waste import policy in 2017 which bans the import of 24 types of solid waste, including certain types of plastics, paper, and textiles. Based on a study by the University of Georgia, it is predicted that by 2030 with this policy, 111 million plastic waste will be left unaccounted for.

Plastic pollution
[[File:Plastic_Bag_Jelly_Fish.jpg|alt=1|thumb|Plastic Jelly Fish

Frequently eaten by sea turtles as jellyfish]] Plastic has a composition of polymers such as polystyrene, polypropylene, and polyethylene. Since it is lightweight, durable, and inexpensive, plastic is widely used by people in all aspects of life. Simultaneously, pollution is worsened by plastic products. Generally, the plastic composition is chemically inert, causing it to be non-biodegradable. Likewise, its buoyancy and durability, plastic pollution extends to other parts of the world and absorbs toxic materials present in the environment. In 2012, it was reported that 280 million tons of plastics were produced globally, that of which consisted of half being shipped back to landfills or recycled. The majority of the remaining 150 million plastic waste travels to water bodies or gets abandoned in shore. Surveys have revealed that the main source of plastic waste in the ocean comes from merchant ships or fishing vessels and urban drainage systems. Merchant ships would dispose of large quantities of plastic containers around the world daily while canals and municipal platoon systems will haul large amounts of garbage into the ocean. In 2014, researchers estimated by the end of the year, at least 5.25 trillion plastic pellets transported into the sea weighing approximately 268,940 tons.

Plastic pollution hazard
Plastic pollution has become increasingly detrimental to marine life. A study conducted in the North Pacific discovered plastic particles were found in eight of the eleven seabirds. Similarly, 55% of the 1033 birds collected outside the coast of North Carolina, USA, contain plastics. The ingestion of plastic reduces the stomach capacity hence reducing the predation through feeding stimulation, thereby reducing fat accumulation. Moreover, it also blocks gastric enzyme secretion, lowering steroid levels, delayed ovulation, and reproductive failure. Additionally, some animals will feed plastic to their children, such as ruminant birds will pass plastic granules to their chicks during feeding, which leads to their death, which was the case for Laysan albatross chicks. Plastic was found in the stomach of 90% the Laysan albatross chicks’ bodies. Some bird corpses were found, there was no food in the stomach; however, it was filled with plastic.

Despite this, the threat of ingesting plastics is not just occurring in seabirds. Some plastics that drift in the sea look similar to the turtle's prey. The ingestion of plastic makes their survival hindered. According to the Marine Conservation Association, almost all sea turtle species have plastic in their bodies. Of the 38 endangered green turtles in southern Brazil, 23 had plastic in the esophagus and stomach. Among the turtles that landed in Florida, 56% of the digestive tract has plastic fragments. Likewise, plastic pollution can also lead to damage to the ecosphere. Plastic waste may carry some species to drift to new habitats and cause damage to local species.

This being said, human beings are also at risk of being exposed to the danger of discarded plastic in the ocean. When the plastic disintegrates into smaller pieces, it is more susceptible to entering the food web. Animals such as fish, invertebrates, and microbes also ingest micron-sized particles According to a Belgian study, British people who consume fish annually may potentially consume 11,000 pieces of plastic chips. Ingested micro-plastics will enter cells and tissues, causing harm to the human body although the "International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships" (MARPOL) enacted a ban on the complete ban on the treatment of plastics at sea at the end of 1988. But after MARPOL signed the ban, ocean sampling showed that plastic pollution is still deteriorating.

Chinese plastic history
In the 1990s, economic development and the rise in living standards increased China’s demand for plastic products by 21% annually. However, in that year, China lacked raw materials, and the production quality was incapable of meeting to the growing needs. Moreover, they did not have an efficient recycling system, and waste was collected through an informal recycling network.

From 1980 to 1994, the recycling rate of waste products in China fell by 11%, which brought about pressure on the municipality. In some big cities, a large number of waste plastics were not being recycled and led to a strain on the urban drainage system blockage. According to statistics, about 60% of plastic waste in China was discarded or not recycled at that time. In 1994, China’s agricultural film consumption was 1.9 million tons, but 300,000 tons of agricultural film remained in farmland every year, affecting the soil and causing animal diseases.

In the early 21th century, China had become the second largest plastic producer in the world, second to the US. However, China’s domestic productivity still could not meet their demand for plastics. Furthermore, the rising crude oil prices at the time also led to the inflation of the price of pure plastics. At the same time, although the price of waste plastics has also increased, it is still relatively cheap compared to virgin plastics. Thus, in order to cope with demand and lower costs, the import of waste has increased again. The increasing demand led China to rely heavily on the import of waste, such as waste plastics. However, this also formed the dependence of other countries in the world on China's imports of waste plastics.

Plastic recycling
It was reported that roughly 50% of plastics are being utilized in disposable manufacturing processes such as packaging, agricultural films, and disposables, while 20 to 25 % was used for long-term infrastructure like pipes, coating for cables and structured materials and the remainder is used for durable moderate life consumer goods such as electronics, furniture, and vehicles. In general, plastic is considered to be durable and non-biodegradable hence making them difficult to disintegrate for at least a few decades with some lasting over hundreds or thousands of years. Judging from the domestic environmental factors, even some degradable plastics may still exist for a considerable period of time due to their degradation rate which is also influenced by factors such as the exposure of UV, oxygen, and temperature, whereas biodegradable plastics require the need of adequate microorganisms. Therefore, the rate of degradation in landfills and terrestrial, marine environments would tend to vary.

Due to poor management of plastic waste, most plastics are currently disposed of in unauthorized dumping sites or burned uncontrollably in the field. Moreover, due to the particularity and quantity of plastics, the recycling of plastics has always been a problem. In theory, most thermoplastics could be recycled in a closed loop. However, plastic packaging may call for the need to use different kinds of polymers as well as other materials such as metals, paper, pigments, inks, and adhesives, which make it challenging to control. Setting up a landfill is one of the traditional methods of waste managements, but some countries lack the land to accommodate to landfills. The process of incineration will reduce the need for a dedicated plastic waste landfill, but this brings up the issue of whether or not harmful substances being released into the atmosphere during this process. Furthermore, collecting and packaging plastics for sale to other countries is much cheaper than recycling.

The Green Fence Operation
The quality of recyclable materials exported to China gradually declined; on the contrary, large amounts of waste entering China was mixed with food, garbage, and other pollutants. These unmanageable waste products have thus burdened the Chinese government. Similarly, the profitability of the waste industry has attracted speculators to invest in the market. In order to enhance the management of the market and the reduction of illegal traffic, the Chinese government had decided to implement the green fence operation. It is said that this operation was the result of the China Customs’enforcing action against the law governing from February to November 2013. This initiative was designed to monitor the quality and flow of incoming waste and combat smuggling. It was reported that in just five months, China customs had seized 337 cases of solid waste smuggling amounting to 1.7 billion RMB.

According to the regulations of the China Waste Plastics Association, import license transactions are prohibited, and imported waste plastics must be delivered to factories with import qualifications in accordance with the provisions of the import license. Since countries are dependent on China’s waste imports, this action had adversely affected the entire value chain of waste plastics and exporting countries.

In Chinese ports, inspections of waste have slowed down port operations, which means that exporters need to bear the demurrage of the goods left in the dock before the inspection. At the same time, a large number of waste materials that have not passed the review have also been returned. By the end of 2013, China’s waste imports had been reduced by one million metric tons. China’s policy has made exporting countries aware of the drawbacks of excessive dependence on exports. Hence, this will bring a negative impact on the domestic reprocessing capacity of exporting countries.

Impact of the ban
Since 1992, China has received 106 million tons of plastic waste, half of the world’s plastic waste imports. After the introduction of the policy, China’s imports of plastic waste saw a sharp drop of 99% while the imports of mixed paper have fallen by a third, and imports of aluminum and glass waste have been less affected. In the meantime, many recycling projects abandoned the separation of recyclables when they decided to just dispose of the waste into the same box. This had increased the risk of contamination from food and waste and resulted in a large amount of waste that cannot be reprocessed.

Some developed countries have started to transport the waste to other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia to respond to the ban. Some Chinese manufacturers are also setting up factories in these countries to try to undertake these new projects. However, some of these countries do not have the capacity to respond to the entry of new waste and are already considering whether to impose policies to control the impact of foreign waste on the country. The existing marine pollution of Asia is dire enough, and there is no doubt that transporting waste to countries with no processing capacity will exacerbate this problem.

According to the Financial Times, after the ban on China, the UK’s waste exports to Malaysia tripled, and the domestic recycling industry is still sluggish. In addition, China’s ban has caused more countries to focus on the development of a recyclable economy. The UK plans to impose a tax on plastic packers, and Norway also requires disposable plastic bottle manufacturers to pay environmental taxes. European authorities have realized the value of plastic waste, claiming that if recycling capacity quadruples, it could create 200,000 jobs by 2030.