Chinese Trash Gatherine SIte

As of January 1, 2018, China will no longer import much of the plastic and paper we have been shipping there for decades.

China is the world’s biggest importer of recycled materials, unloading the burden from countries like Canada and the U.S.

Adam Minter, a Bloomberg columnist and author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade, describes China’s change in policy as “a massive deal.”

“It’s going to be disruptive both within and outside of China,” he tells The Current‘s guest host Catherine Cullen.

Minter says the shift is informed by China’s desire to protect importers from bad trades and keep used goods from flooding its markets. Accordingly, China is unlikely to revert or delay the policy, despite international pressure.

So what happens if there’s no longer a market for all of our recyclables?

‘The individual recycler is probably going to be asked to pay more for their recycling down the line.’– Adam Minter, a Bloomberg columnist 

In what many are calling a “waste crisis,” Canadian municipalities are already finding they have no place for their mounting […]