1. recycling capacity
    the recycling capacity doesn’t match the production and import of waste
  2. why countries accepting waste are those countries having a higher mismanagement rate?
  3. The plastic waste trade has severe negative impacts which can be classified into three categories: environmental, social/health and economic.

Environmental impacts:

  • land and water quality degradation
    the leakage of toxic chemicals from informal dumps and landfills.
  • Air pollution
    open burning and incineration. Small particulate matter.
  • loss of biodiversity and ecological health
    ingestion and entanglement to chemical contamination and affect threatened, endangered species.
  • Climate change
    open burning and incineration.

Economic impacts:

  • Cost to the global economy
  • Clean-up costs
  • Loss of livelihoods
  • Corruption, tax fraud and money laundering
  • Displacement of domestic recycling efforts

how is plastic waste exported?
Step 1: waste generation
municipal/household waste; industrial, business and commercial waste
Step 2: Collection
Step 3: Sorting in source country
Waste collected for reprocessing is sent to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to be sorted.
A PRF(plastic recovery facility) is an additional degree of sorting, occurring either within an MRF or within a separate PRF facility. This step separates plastic by polymer type (i.e. HDPE, PET) and as a result, increases its purity and market value.
Step 4: Domestic reprocessing (recycling and recovery)
Mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and waste