New research reveals that developing countries recycle far more imported plastic than previously thought, but the problem of plastic pollution remains dire. Circular economy efforts and international agreements are driving some positive changes, but more action is needed to truly tackle the global plastic waste crisis.
And recycling results are better than expected.
The logical conclusion of that assumption, which has impacted waste policy in prominent countries such as Germany, is that the likely percentage of plastic that is being recycled in countries importing plastic waste will be tiny — not far from their domestic recycling rates. It turns out, not necessarily — at least according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.
The research, led by Kai Li, a PhD candidate at Leiden University, investigated plastic waste trade around the world and found that several developing countries — including Malaysia and Turkey — are recycling significantly more of their imported plastic than reported. They used trade data to compute the “Required Recycling Rate,” which refers to the least amount of imported plastic that would have to be recycled for recycling-based trade to pay for itself. What they discovered is that most countries need to recycle at least 63 percent of all plastic waste imports in order not to lose money by doing so, — a figure far higher than the previously suspected rate of 23 percent recycling.
Changing Landscape of Plastic Waste Trade
The researchers who conducted the said study also called for more research on how the global trade and export of plastic waste has changed in recent years. China was the biggest destination for plastic waste until 2018, but a lot of that material was difficult to recycle and caused numerous environmental problems. China retaliated by halting imports of all plastic, paper, and other solid waste.
The ban redirected the trade to countries including Turkey, Malaysia, and Vietnam which have increased plastic waste importers. The quality of this traded waste has also gotten better, the researchers note. The Basel Convention was updated in 2021 to include changes that require waste to be adequately cleaned and sorted before export, among other things. This means that the researchers predict they will observe an increase in the trade of plastic waste from wealthier Northern countries to other wealthy Northern countries — at the expense of trade between the North and South.
The battle against plastic pollution has not yet won
Though the research findings may indicate that more plastic is getting recycling than we assumed before, Kai Li and his team warn that this isn’t necessarily a good thing. Even with better recycling processes an enormous load of plastic waste is destined for incineration, or landfilling resulting in environmental pollution.
The researchers say the priority should be less plastic produced and discarded globally. There would also be less waste if governments limited plastic production, says Li. They also say that if the amount of damage plastic pollution does to the environment had a reflection in its cost, developing countries would recycle more. A holistic world-wide approach is therefore required to address the intricate nature of plastic waste.
