Abstract
As the largest manufacturing economy, China's strong trade connections to the rest of the world make it a major actor in global plastic flows. Knowledge regarding flows within, into, and out of China is therefore essential, particularly the effects of China's 2017 ban on imported plastic waste. We used probabilistic material flow analysis to model the life-cycles of 8 commodity polymers in China in 2017 and 2020. We considered 9 product sectors, 33 product categories, and 6 disposal options. China produced and imported a large amount of primary plastics while exporting numerous semi-finished and finished plastic products. The largest application of plastics is packaging, followed by textiles, with PP and PET having the largest consumption. Waste plastics were mainly incinerated and landfilled, and their recycling rates were high. This study provides separate analyses for each polymer, makes comparisons with Europe, and lays the foundation for plastic management in China.
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