Asian nations refuse foreign plastic imports
Words by Emma Goldrick
In 2017 Australians used 3.5 million tonnes of plastic waste, of which only 180,100 tonnes were reprocessed domestically. Australia, alongside many other developed nations, export their plastic waste to under-developed countries that are already struggling with their own domestically-produced plastic crisis. Government reports produced in 2011 stated only 40% of waste in Australia ends up at a recycling facility, with even less making it through the complete process. Lacking the capacity to deal with plastic waste domestically, Australia continues to rely on the cross border disposal of waste, however, with continued exposure to environmental travesties in Asian nations, many countries are shutting their borders to plastic imports.
In the past year, Asian nations have continued to stand together in the fight against the cross border disposal of plastic waste. Countries including Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines are all set to close the gates to waste dumping from the wealthier world, in many cases even returning plastic waste to the perpetrating country. The call for Asia to close its borders to Western waste has followed after China, less than two years ago banned the majority of imports of scrap material from other nations. Prior to the 2018 Chinese ban on plastic waste, China was the leading importer of waste and scrap from other nations. The sudden closure of China as a dumping ground for the rubbish of the developed world led to an exponential spike in the plastic waste exported to smaller South-East Asian nations. After China halted imports of plastic waste, nations have begun to export to countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia, all of which are now refusing the import. The influx of waste to South-East Asia has put substantial pressure on citizens health and the environments of each respective country.
Cambodia is the most recent country to follow suit and reject the plastic waste of other nations. It was announced late last week that Cambodia will be returning more than 1, 600 tonnes of waste (predominantly plastic) to both the U.S. and Canada. The small beach town of Sihanoukville in Cambodia’s South has experienced rapid and severe environmental decay over the past 5 years as the area has been bombarded with the waste from developed nations. The Cambodian Government has put forward statements stating;
“Cambodia is not a dustbin where foreign countries can dispose of out-of-date e-waste, and the government also opposes any import of plastic waste and lubricants to be recycled in this country”.
Cambodian officials also claim to have received numerous shipments of waste that were wrongly labelled as recyclable products from both Canada and the U.S. Officials say they are looking to hold an investigation into the mislabelling and dumping of waste in Sihanoukville in addiction to returning aforementioned waste to their original country. Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia has declared that the nation will no longer allow plastic waste or other recyclables to be exported here. Cambodia is in the midst of dealing with its own domestic plastic crisis, already lacking the knowledge and infrastructure to deal with this.
Shipments of illegal waste found in Sihanoukville
The Philippines also returned 2,400 tonnes of illegally exported waste back to its country of origin, Canada, at the beginning of 2019. Following suit, Malaysia's environmental minister also announced in May of 2019 that the country would be returning 3, 000 metric tonnes of contaminated plastic waste to countries including Australia and the United Kingdom. Indonesia has also joined other nations taking a stance against plastic and has also sent back dozens of shipment containers back to their countries of origin including Australia and France.
At the beginning of the year, more than 180 countries amended and signed the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal to also include the export/import of plastic pollution. The agreement stipulated that nations could accept or decline the import of plastic into their nation, which would also allow them to cap the import at manageable magnitudes. After the addition of this clause the U.S., one of the main contributors to the redistribution of plastic waste, refused to sign the agreement. This was followed by an independent report in July 2019 signalling the U.S. to produce more rubbish and recycle less of it than any other developed nation in the world.
Without the cross border disposal of waste, developed nations will be required to address their excessive use of plastic domestically and educate their citizens on moving forward in an environmentally conscious and sustainable manner. Countries will be required to systematically address the way individuals use plastic, the way they recycle it and the mechanisms used for this recycling process. For many nations dealing with their waste domestically will require a restructure of their current waste framework. With the increased cost of labour domestically, Australia must create a more efficient recycling system in order to reduce double handling. With a move away from exporting waste, the government should look to eliminate commingled recycling and instead implement a more specific system that promotes correct recycling at home, elevating pressure on the process and allowing for a high level of waste to be recycled.