China Bans Another 32 Types of Import Waste

The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment has announced that China will ban a further 32 types of solid waste imports by the end of 2019.

This announcement follows on from ‘Operation National Sword’, an initiative to clean up Chinas environment. This initial ban saw 24 different grades of materials, that exceed impurity thresholds, no longer being accepted into Chinese ports after the beginning of 2018. Read more here
Chinas import bans are already causing a lot of problems for waste companies across the globe. In the UK there is little infrastructure to process and recycle the collected materials, the piles are starting to build up with huge effects to cost and worth.

The new restrictions will be introduced in two waves. On 31st December 2018, 16 materials including compressed car scraps, waste plastic from industrial sources, PET bottles and electrical appliances for recovery will be prohibited. One year later another 16 materials will also be banned from being imported, including stainless steel scraps and wood waste.

The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) said it was concerned because UK recyclers sent around 400,000 tonnes of metals worth more than £200m to China in 2017.

Whilst this ban will affect household and office recycling less than the first read our Death of the DMR Bin? Article here , it will, however, cut off Chinese manufactures from a cheap source of metals and that cost will be passed onto consumers.