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Earlier this year, the American recycling community was stunned by a knockout punch from the Far East as new rulings from China turned a once profitable relationship upside down. In January 2018, Beijing stated that it was banning intake of most paper and plastic waste in accordance with a new environmental policy designed to free China from being the world’s “dumping ground.” The ban extends to other materials as well, and American recyclers are now scrambling to find a way to dispose of tons of material that normally would be enroute to Asia.

Over the last year, staff from Resource Recycling Magazine created a chronological rundown of import policy action across Asia to help stakeholders get a firm grasp on the Chinese import policies that are reshaping materials recovery around the planet. 

The English-speaking world's growing concern for the environment and the ubiquity of disposable items that are used only once has pushed the word "single-use" to the top of Collins Dictionary's list of "Word of the Year."

Collins says there's been a fourfold increase in the usage of the word since 2013, in part thanks to news coverage of environmental issues.

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Feature Story from Recycling Today by Brian Taylor

​During the previous two decades, China emerged and then solidified its role as the leading producer and consumer of nearly every basic material, including base metals, plastic and paper and board.

The global shift in resources also entailed China becoming a magnet for secondary raw materials, including millions of tons annually of paper, metal and plastic scrap imported from other nations.

Modern life would be impossible without plastic – but we have long since lost control over our invention. Why has plastic turned into a problem and what do we know about its dangers?

This video is a collaboration with UN Environment and their Clean Seas campaign.

From Recycling Today, Edited by Adam Redling

The Pacific Coast Co

From Resource Recycling, by 

From the PSI Blog