China Notifies WTO of Pending Scrap Import Ban

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The import ban, which will enter into force by the end of 2017, will also cover slag from steelmaking, and many kinds of waste wool, ash, cotton and yarn.

In a World Trade Organization filing, China said the costs of being the world’s scrapyard were starting to outweigh the benefits, as useful raw materials coming into the country were sullied by pollutants, Reuters reported. “This polluted the environment seriously”.

“To protect China’s environmental interests and people’s health, we urgently adjust the imported solid wastes list, and forbid the import of solid wastes that are highly polluted”.

Additionally, ISRI President Robin Wiener says upon hearing about the ban, ISRI “immediately briefed USA officials in preparation for [the July 19, 2017] U.S”. “The trade in specification-grade commodities – metals, paper and plastics – between the United States and China is of critical importance to the health and success of the USA -based recycling industry”. -China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington.

The ban, set to go into effect by the end of the year, might be a good thing for Chinese ecology, but the decision could hit Georgia’s overall exports to China.

“Recycled materials are key inputs into the production of new, usable commodities for the use in value-add production”, ISRI said.

Already, China’s overall imports of scrap had more than halved from $416 million in 2011, presumably as China’s domestic recycling sector grew and its overall growth rate slowed. That number likely declined in 2016 and has shrunk further in 2017, as Chinese customs and environmental agencies have been inspecting and closing down plastic recycling facilities.

British plastic recycler Vanden Recycling has said that the United Kingdom recycling sector shouldn’t have been taken by surprised by the announcement. That’s about half of the 1,792 factories licensed to import waste plastics.

It said with 383 factories had their production suspended and 53 were closed, and that factories with violations could have their import permits suspended for one year.

According to the notification, the ban on household plastic wastes applies to imports of waste or scrap polymers of the following resins: ethylene (HS 3915100000); styrene (3915200000); vinyl chloride (3915300000); PET (3915901000); other plastics (3915909000).

Courtesy: https://wasteadvantagemag.com