Waste Trade Research Articles

Recycling of European plastic is a pathway for plastic debris in the ocean

Polyethylene (PE) is one of the most common types of plastic. Whilst an increasing share of post-consumer plastic waste from Europe is collected for recycling, 46% of separated PE waste is exported outside of the source country (including intra-EU trade). The fate of this exported European plastic is not well known. This study integrated data on PE waste flows in 2017 from UN Comtrade, an open repository providing detailed international trade data, with best available information on waste management in destination countries, to model the fate of PE exported for recycling from Europe (EU-28, Norway and Switzerland) into: recycled high-density PE (HDPE) and low-density PE (LDPE) resins, “landfill”, incineration and ocean debris. Data uncertainty was reflected in three scenarios representing high, low and average recovery efficiency factors in material recovery facilities and reprocessing facilities, and different ocean debris fate factors. The fates of exported PE were then linked back to the individual European countries of export. Our study estimated that 83,187 Mg (tonnes) (range: 32,115–180,558 Mg), or 3% (1–7%) of exported European PE in 2017 ended up in the ocean, indicating an important and hitherto undocumented pathway of plastic debris entering the oceans. The countries with the greatest percentage of exported PE ending up as recycled HDPE or LDPE were Luxembourg and Switzerland (90% recycled for all scenarios), whilst the country with the lowest share of exported PE being recycled was the United Kingdom (59–80%, average 69% recycled). The results showed strong, significant positive relationships between the percentage of PE exported out of Europe and the percentage of exports which potentially end up as ocean debris. Export countries may not be the ultimate countries of origin owing to complex intra-EU trade in PE waste. Although somewhat uncertain, these mass flows provide pertinent new evidence on the efficacy and risks of current plastic waste management practices pertinent to emerging regulations around trade in plastic waste, and to the development of a more circular economy.

Trade for the Environment: Transboundary Hazardous Waste Movements After the Basel Convention

AbstractInternational institutions are important regulators of the trade–environment relationship. Many of them deploy trade measures for environmental purposes, with mixed results. The Basel Convention is one case where trade restrictions have not succeeded in curbing movements of hazardous waste or protecting vulnerable countries from waste dumping. Current literature emphasizes North–South conflict under the Basel Convention as a main reason for these shortcomings. This paper returns to the fundamental question as to why countries engage in this trade. It contends that hazardous wastes are not only characterized by their environmental impacts, but are also distinct in the ways they are generated, distributed, and managed. I argue that global economic integration has commodified these wastes, and countries are increasingly diverging on their views of hazardous materials. This paper draws from the under‐utilized Basel Convention Database and other sources to piece together a holistic picture of the global hazardous waste movements. It identifies three types of countries with distinct trade orientations: industrialized countries trading the largest amounts of hazardous wastes and with considerable specialization; newly industrializing countries as influential players in hazardous waste generation and management; and least developed countries, which oppose waste trade yet suffer from waste dumping. As globalization deepens, management of hazardous wastes may require extensive trade of hazardous materials between countries of varying capabilities and interests. Contrary to its current trade minimization approach based on a crude North–South dichotomy, the Basel Convention may benefit from an approach that motivates capable countries to import wastes and one that builds capacity for intended waste importers.

Evolution of the global polyethylene waste trade system

ABSTRACT Introduction China’s import bans on solid wastes starting from 2017 have challenged the global trade system of plastic wastes, which remains poorly characterized. This study chooses polyethylene (PE) as a case and aims to map out the global trade networks of PE waste (GPETN) from 1976 to 2017. Outcomes We find that the size and complexity of the GPETN had been growing until 2016. After the mid-1990s, PE waste basically flowed from developed economies, mainly the EU and the US, to developing economies such as China. Since 2001 when admitted into the WTO, China’s PE waste import surged until 2014 when it absorbed over 60% of global export. Regulations on solid waste import following the Green Fence campaign in 2013 resulted in substantial reductions in China’s import as well as the global export of PE waste after 2014. Several other developing economies, such as Malaysia, Turkey, and Vietnam, had transitioned to net importers, but their imports were insufficient to replace China as new recycling bases for PE waste. Conclusion The results highlight the urgent need of a joint effort for developed and developing countries to build a stronger global circular economy system with sufficient capacity to treat PE waste locally.

Sustainable strategy for municipal solid waste disposal in Hong Kong: current practices and future perspectives.

Hong Kong (HK) is confronted by increasing problems of solid waste disposal, as it is an overpopulated city with limited land resources. Currently, solid waste disposal mainly relies on three landfills located in the New Territories. However, the current waste treatment facilities and policies cannot appropriately control and manage increments of solid waste. The primary reason is the increased amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) caused by the growth of the population and the economy, with food waste accounting for the largest proportion of MSW in HK. The secondary reason is that the capacity of existing landfills will be exhausted in the near future as the level of waste generated continues to grow. To deal with these problems, in this paper, we propose five approaches with the aim of identifying the most sustainable strategy for efficient solid waste disposal in HK: a food waste recycling program; an MSW charging scheme; the implementation of incineration plants (i.e., waste to energy); black soldier fly bioconversion and a waste trading scheme; and black soldier fly bioconversion and a hybrid anaerobic digestion system. This is followed by a detailed demonstration of each approach, particularly focusing on the benefits, limitations, and implementation of each in the case of HK. The results of this study may shed light on how to effectively and sustainably manage the increasing amount of solid waste in HK.

What goes around, comes around? Access and allocation problems in Global North\u2013South waste trade

Infamous cases of toxic waste trade and research on its health and environmental implications have made the global waste trade a prominent environmental and social justice issue. Recently, such trade has shifted towards extracting resources from waste as recyclable components and used goods which could create income-generating opportunities and reduce the environmental burdens of waste trade from Global North to Global South countries. Nevertheless, studies highlight persistent problems in the access to these resources and allocation of responsibilities, risks and burdens from processing and disposal of traded waste in Global South countries. This article aims to contribute to the lessons learnt on access and allocation with respect to waste trade by focusing on issues of equity, fairness and distributive justice. Two cases are analysed: trade in discarded electronic and electric equipment (EEE) between the EU and Africa and trade in plastic materials between the UK and China. This study shows that exports of used EEE and recyclable plastic materials exacerbate the environmental burdens of Global South countries while also exporting new environmental risks and social burdens. At the same time, new demands for justice have emerged from Global South countries through waste ship back initiatives, and new international measures have also been adopted. While the access and allocation lens enabled the identification of persistent problems in Global North–South waste trade, directing future Earth System Governance research to the demands emerging from the Global South countries could offer insights into how to better address these problems and deal with growing global inequalities.

Fending off waste from the west: The impact of China's Operation Green Fence on the international waste trade

AbstractChina launched the first Operation Green Fence (OGF) on 1 February 2013 to fend off inflows of illegal waste. The main objective of OGF was to enforce waste trade policies already adopted by China and thereby restrict illegal waste imports. We use a gravity model of international trade with annual bilateral waste trade data at the 6‐digit HS code level to assess the impact of OGF on the international waste trade. First, we study the direct impact of OGF and find that the intervention resulted in a 26% drop in low‐quality waste exports to China from developed countries. Second, we assess the impact of OGF on exports from developed countries to developing countries, excluding China. We do not find a statistically significant effect of OGF on low‐quality waste exports from developed countries to developing countries (excluding China). We also test the waste haven hypothesis and do not find evidence that waste exports were disproportionately diverted to countries with lax environmental regulation.

Urgent need to review domestic regulations in Japan for preventing illegal transboundary movement of hazardous wastes

• There is a need to study the growing trend in e-waste trading that appears to be shifting towards illegal recycling activities. An increasing number of cases of illegal waste trading have involved people from developing countries who reside in Japan. They export hazardous waste by attaching it to second-hand products sent from Japan to their home countries. • The Yokohama customs office has the only special force investigating hazardous waste exports; more than half the detected illegal cargo are components of dismantled vehicles containing illegal toxic or hazardous waste banned by the basel convention and is unlawful in Japan. • In Japan, recycling activities are under a different government sector jurisdiction from business exporting hazardous waste. Overseeing the export of hazardous waste attached to second-hand products can be problematic and is a weak point associated with the vertically divided administration system which needs to be reviewed and remediated.

Do you need cobalt ore? Estimating potential trade relations through link prediction

Cobalt is an important metal resource in supporting the development of strategic emerging industries. Recently, it has been widely used in the field of new energy. Cobalt ore and its concentrates are the main sources of cobalt raw materials in various countries. These countries’ international trade relations will affect the stability of the cobalt resource supply, so it is particularly important to predict the future trade relationships for cobalt ore. This study first selects international trade data on cobalt ore from 2009 to 2018 and calculates the stability of the trade network. Then, the potential international trade relationships for cobalt ore are evaluated by building a link prediction analysis model including the role of trade countries for cobalt ore and identifying the overall utilization level of national cobalt sources in combination with the international trade of cobalt waste and scrap. The results show that trade instability has increased in the past three years. The Netherlands and China, Germany and China, the United States and China, Morocco and the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and the United States are most likely to trade cobalt ore in the next three years; China and India, China and the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands and South Africa are most likely to trade cobalt ore in the next five years. According to the predicted results, governments can find more new trading partners and expand the diversification of cobalt source countries. In addition, cobalt resource utilization needs to be improved.

Policies for transitioning towards a circular economy: Expectations from the European Union (EU)

The circular economy is a much discussed pathway towards sustainability. While some scholarly work has been carried out on barriers towards a circular economy, there are relatively few academic studies on policies that may accelerate a transition towards a circular economy. Those that focus on policies mostly scrutinize existing policies. The study at hand utilizes data from semi-structured interviews with 47 public and private sector circular economy experts from the European Union to explore expectations regarding circular economy policies, with expectations possibly going beyond existing policies. Expectations identified via this work include more robust standards and norms in production, expansion of circular procurement, tax relief for circular products, liberalization of waste trading and its facilitation through virtual platforms, support for eco-industrial parks, and awareness campaigns. The set of policy recommendations is presented from a life-cycle perspective that is necessary for a transition towards a circular economy. The study aims to contribute to the nascent body of circular economy literature concerning policies and may be of particular interest to practitioners.

Clearly Hazardous, Obscurely Regulated: Lessons from the Basel Convention on Waste Trade

As an internationally-traded commodity, plastic waste has long followed the profitability dynamics of the global waste and recycling market, leaving in its trace a disproportionate environmental and health burden on the world's most vulnerable populations. East Asian and Pacific countries, where most globally generated plastic waste has been exported since the late 1980s, are marked by underdeveloped, inefficient, or non-existent waste management infrastructures. Despite the highly visible environmental and human health impacts of plastic pollution, the global plastic waste trade has predominantly operated outside the scope of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. In 2019, however, this treaty was amended to explicitly bring all but a narrow stream of plastic waste within the category of wastes controlled as “hazardous waste,” or “waste requiring special consideration.” This essay explains the international legal implications of the amendment and discusses potential challenges related to its implementation and enforcement. It argues that in order to be effective, the new plastic waste trading rules will require further legal clarity, greater transparency in plastic waste trade that is not regulated under the Convention, and stronger law enforcement cooperation between customs and environmental protection authorities, both within and between countries. Since controlling all plastic waste trade at point of export is, in practice, impossible given the state of global shipping infrastructures and container traffic volume, the most effective approach to curbing plastic waste pollution and illegal trade lies outside the mandate of the Basel Convention, notably, in assigning financial and environmental responsibility for plastic waste within plastic product supply chains.

The Circular Economy, Trade, and Development: Addressing Spillovers and Leveraging Opportunities

As a result of global value chains, a transition to a circular economy will impact on international trade flows. While the transition to a circular economy agenda is predominantly driven by national policies, there is increased awareness that it will have associated impact on international supply chains that will extend beyond national borders. Specifically, several global trends can be expected, including: reduced trade in primary raw materials; increased trade in secondary raw materials; increased trade in recyclable waste; increased trade in second-hand products; and increased trade in services. These anticipated shifts in international trade flows will be especially significant for developing economies–creating both challenges and opportunities. For instance, it could potentially reduce export earnings of commodity-dependent developing economies, undermine industrial development, increase import of waste exceeding a country’s recycling capacity, and create a shift in trade towards products that meet circular economy standards. However, these shifts also present new opportunities for job creation and development, especially in emerging services industries like recycling, repurposing and re-use of materials. It could also lead to new opportuni.es for the commodities-dependent countries, offering an alternative strategy to the traditional manufacturing-led export model for industrial development. There are different ways in which a developing economy can buffer potentially negative spillovers associated with a transition to a circular economy while leveraging any opportunities – with a role for proactive domestic policies, regional trade agreements (RTAs), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). On the domestic level, developing economies must undertake a study to identify any sections that could be vulnerable to job loss over the long run, map opportunities in new sectors, with an emphasis on emerging services, and create a roadmap that enables a country to be proactive as opposed to reactive to the transition to a circular economy. International trade agreements could play a role in (i) defining key product categories for new tradeable products associated to the circular economy; (ii) developing and harmonizing quality standards for circular economy products; (iii) opening markets for trade in goods and services relevant to the circular economy; and (iv) providing technical assistance for developing countries. In addition, the WTO could play a role in advancing an inclusive transition to a circular economy by: (i) including the circular economy as a priority area in the multilateral agenda; (ii) strengthening the role of the Committee on Trade and Environment; (iii) facilitating specific initiatives related to the circular economy; and (iv) strengthening the link between Aid for Trade and circular economy objectives.

Peculiarities of Formation and Implementation of the State Environmental Policy in the sphere of Solid Waste Management in foreign countries

The paper presents the author’s view of the problem range of solid waste in the world through the prism of balancing interests. The global trends of solid waste generation per capita by region are considered. The features of solid waste management and the application of waste management methods in different countries are highlighted. The morphology of waste streams in high- and low-income countries is analyzed. The concept of cooperation as a consolidation of efforts, achievement of a common goal of solving urgent problems, and its essential characteristics are investigated. It is revealed that the social effect of cooperation depends on the willingness of the subjects to form partnerships, as well as on favorable conditions, specifically: proper legislative support, quality of service delivery, stability of pricing, economic policy, effectiveness of the mechanism of management decision-making.
 The destructive factors of the balancing of interests in the field of solid waste management and their determinants are identified: an increase in volumes of illegal trade in waste, inconsistency of product quality with the information provided in the documentation, falsification of the trade mark as recyclable, masking of hazardous waste. The factors of intensification of conflict and imbalance of relations in connection with illegal import of waste, non-observance of interests of the host party and its inability to defend its own interests in the international arena are analyzed. It has been found that there is a shift in focus from balancing the relationship to the category of profit, whereby the solution of the problem of solid household waste is based on the principle of «cost-cutting and maximizing profit».
 The differences in the stages of implementing environmental policy at the national and transnational levels are generalized. The problem of increasing the volume of plastic in the composition of waste is emphasized and the causes of the global crisis of waste management due to the decision of China to ban the import of waste are discussed. The directions of stabilizing the situation and balancing of relations in the world solid waste management are offered.

Modelling the global impact of China’s ban on plastic waste imports

China has long been the world’s leading plastic waste importer. However, in January 2018 the Chinese Government enacted a new policy to permanently ban the import of most plastic waste into the country. This raises an important question: what will the impact of this policy be both domestically and globally? It is argued that the answer to this question can in part be systematically revealed by employing three methods of analysis. (1) A combined multiregional input-output model with structural path analysis (SPA) to understand how consumption patterns domestically and globally drive China’s plastic waste imports. (2) An ecological network analysis to identify which region is the dominant controller of the global plastic waste trade network. Lastly, (3) a hypothetical extraction method to investigate the value-added change for China and the increased requirement of waste treatment capacity for other economies. The results indicate that the imported plastic waste was mainly driven by China’s domestic consumption of products containing recycled plastic. Given this demand, it is recommended that the Chinese Government undertake various actions to increase local plastic waste recycling to compensate for the loss of recycled plastic material since the import ban took place. China is a dominant controller, along with the US, the European Union and Germany of the global plastic waste trade network. At this stage it is not possible for other large economies to replace the role of China in the short term. China’s waste import ban caused a minor economic loss for China, however, it has resulted in the need for other economies to increase their waste treatment capacity. As well as increasing local plastic waste recycling, it is recommended the Chinese Government consider reopening imports for high quality recycled material and to seek global collaboration, which would not only ease the shortage of recycled plastic material but also buy time for other economies to build new waste treatment plants.

Contradictions of Transnational Trash Trade Regulations in Indonesia

This study aims to examine the contradictory regulation regarding trade of waste in indonesia. Principle what is described in Article 69 paragraph (1) letter C Law no. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management which states that everyone is prohibited from entering waste originating from outside the Republic of Indonesia into the territory of the Republic of Indonesia. Based on the principle of lex superior derogate legi inferior, there are contradictory arrangements. Then the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 84 of 2019 concerning Provisions for the Import of Non Hazardous and Toxic Wastes as Industrial Raw Materials in conjunction with the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 92 of 2019 concerning Amendments to the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 84 of 2019 potentially for a judicial review. Regulation is needed that doesn’t neglect the environment to support the economy. But also doesn’t hinder the economy for focus on the environment. The point is that the existence of rules that bridge the interests of humans and the environment is the best solution so that their existence is maintained.

Waste Bank Application in Jelegong Village, Bandung District, Indonesia

Jelegong Village is located on the banks of the Citarum River. This river has a high level of pollution caused by industrial and domestic waste. Garbage from Jelegong Village has the potential to pollute the Citarum River both directly and indirectly. The waste bank, a disaggregated waste trading place, is one of the technologies that can help to overcome the waste problem in the Hamlet 03 Jelegong Village. Before the waste bank is operated it is necessary to know the readiness of the community to operate it. This study aims to analyze the readiness of the people of the Hamlet 03 Jelegong Village towards the operation of the garbage bank using the KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, Practice) survey method. The questionnaire was distributed to 80 respondents to determine the level of knowledge, attitudes and daily behavior. Based on the results of the study it was found that the community of the Hamlet 03 Jelegong Village has a high level of knowledge (85%), a positive attitude (51.25%), and good behavior (54.55%). Based on the results of this analysis it can be concluded that the community RW 03 Jelegong Village is ready to operate the waste bank. Some recommendations were pointed out for the waste bank of the Hamlet 03 Desa Jelegong which focuses on increasing people's motivation to trade their waste at the waste bank.

Toxic waste dumping in conflict zones: Evidence from 1980s Lebanon

ABSTRACT Records show that numerous countries experiencing civil wars – including Angola, Eritrea, Lebanon, and Somalia – witnessed environmental crime, such as the dumping of toxic waste. To explore the dynamics of waste crime in conflict zones I combine a historic overview of the international trade in toxic waste with a case study of the 1987 toxic waste dumping scandal in Lebanon. I show that conflict zones provide ideal conditions for waste criminals, that waste crime is an easy way for militias to profit, and that environmental crime differs sharply from other modes of predation in the political science literature.

Structure of the global plastic waste trade network and the impact of China’s import Ban

Millions of tonnes (teragrams) of plastic waste are traded around the world every year, which plays an important role in partially substituting virgin plastics as a source of raw materials in plastic product manufacturing. In this paper, global plastic waste trade networks (GPWTNs) from 1988 to 2017 are established using the UN-Comtrade database. The spatiotemporal evolution of the GPWTNs is analyzed. Attention is given to the country ranks, inter- and intra-continental trade flows, and geo-visual communities in the GPWTNs. We also evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of China’s plastic waste import ban on the GPWTNs. The results show that the GPWTNs have small-world and scale-free properties and a core-periphery structure. The geography of the plastic waste trade is structured by Asia as the dominant importer and North America and Europe as the largest sources of plastic waste. China is the unrivaled colossus in the global plastic waste trade. After China’s import ban, the plastic waste trade flows have been largely redirected to Southeast Asian countries. Compared with import countries, export countries are more important for the robustness of GPWTNs. Clearly, developed countries will not announce bans on plastic waste exports; these countries have strong motivation to continue to shift plastic waste to poorer countries. However, the import bans from developing countries will compel developed countries to build new disposal facilities and deal with their plastic waste domestically.

Governance of the circular economy: A comparative examination of the use of standards by China and the United Kingdom

Wastes, like other materials, have become increasingly global in their flows. The circular economy (CE) is a multi-level sustainability transition linked to the global trade in waste. China has long been a key trading partner for the West’s waste materials. However, its rethinking of the quality of traded recyclable materials has triggered a crisis in the global governance of waste flows. We utilise a Sociology of Knowledge approach to undertake comparative work to better understand how different governance arrangements may facilitate or constrain the unfolding of a CE transition. The UK and China were selected as models of liberal and authoritarian environmental governance respectively. A mixed-method approach was pursued using qualitative interviews with key stakeholders and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from secondary sources. Thematic analysis is organised around: perceptions of the circular economy, meanings of standards, and perspectives on trade and materials.

Prepare for Round Three of the Plastic Waste Trade War

Prepare for Round Three of the Plastic Waste Trade War

Materialities meet the mangle: Electronic waste scavenging in Japan and China

Ethnographic portrayals herein of zones of intensive ruination and material conversion foreground the mutable artefacts within environments and their human and nonhuman implications. In highlighting the toxicity of ravaged sites such as post-tsunami Japan and a South China electronic-waste scavenging hotspot, called Guiyu, the article critiques the 'vibrant' materiality promoted by 'new materialist' geographers and others, who tend to neglect the hazardous environmental health externalities of material conversions. The analysis here centres on trade in electronic waste (a.k.a. 'e-waste' or WEEE). In communicating the labile materialities of e-waste artefacts as they both drive and transform such sites of ruination and scavenging, this ethnographic account of disarticulation and rearticulation offers an opportunity to consider the 'enmeshed processes' of objects and the apparatuses that both destroy and (re)produce them. To this end, the article asks geographers to imagine objects in emergent sociocultural milieux as already disintegrated. Such an approach can not only facilitate analysis of sites of disarticulation—with their capacity for new formations—but also help ethnographers understand how ruination influences informants' conception of surroundings and their practice within them.