China, the largest buyer of trash in the world, announced on January 1st that it will reduce and limit the import of waste to recycle paper, plastic, and metals. The country will look for the materials to supply its industry within its borders and will no longer accept fabric scraps or certain types of paper, for example. The goal, according to the Chinese government, is to reduce pollution and contamination caused by manual separation of trash, which contains toxic substances.

Because it imports a lot of waste from wealthy countries, China has been titled the world’s “trash can “. In 2017, Chinese and Hong Kong manufacturers imported 13.2 million tonnes of paper and 1.4 million tonnes of plastic for recycling from the United States and the European Union, the largest exporters of these materials.

The Chinese government started buying global trash in the 1980s to make up for its lack of raw material for recycling. Because of this, several countries such as Brazil, the United States, Japan, and those in the European Union have been dispatching the rubbish they accumulate to China. Today, however, due to China’s growing economy and its rising purchasing power, the country is producing what it needs to meet the demand for recycled products.

China’s decision to import less foreign waste has led countries that rely on this disposal system to look for alternatives. Among potential destinations are Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, India, and Pakistan, places that do not have the same capacity as China to receive tonnes of trash.

Questions – nivel III

– Why doesn’t China want to import trash from other countries anymore?

1. To decrease contamination during trash sorting
   2. To use its own raw material for recycling
   3. To reduce pollution
   4. All of the above

– According to the text above, what other option will countries that relied on sending their trash to China until now have?