China National Sword plastic import ban and container returns
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
China banned imports of most plastic waste from 1 January 2018. A 2018 study estimated the ban would displace 111 Mt of plastic waste by 2030, and later shipments ended up in other countries, some of which returned containers to the senders.
About 106 Mt (Brooks, Wang & Jambeck, Science Advances, 2018).
Status As of the latest sources reviewed (Eurostat, October 2024): the EU exported 1.3 Mt of recyclable plastic outside the bloc in 2023.
What happened
Brooks, Wang and Jambeck (Science Advances, 20 June 2018) reported that China took 45% of cumulative global plastic-waste imports since 1992, about 106 Mt. The study estimated that the import ban, in force from 1 January 2018, would displace 111 Mt by 2030.
Plastic-waste exports from the European Union continued: Eurostat recorded 1.3 Mt of recyclable plastic exported outside the EU in 2023 (CN code 3915). Recoup reported that more than 25% of England's 600,000-plus tonnes of plastic-waste exports went to Türkiye in 2023.
Several countries returned containers. On 31 May 2019 the Philippines sent 69 containers back to Canada, out of 103 shipped in 2013–14. On 20 January 2020 Malaysia returned 150 containers (3,737 t) to 13 countries, including France (43), the UK (42), the US (17), Canada (11) and Spain (10), and more than 200 illegal plants were shut.
Indonesia sent back dozens of containers in 2019; reported counts differ (49, 57 and 58). The Basel Action Network and Nexus3 found that only 12 of 58 US containers actually went back to the United States, with the rest going to India, Thailand, Vietnam and other countries.
In August 2020 Interpol published 'Emerging criminal trends in the global plastic waste market since January 2018', which reported that illegal shipments were rerouted to South-East Asia via transit countries.
- 2018China's plastic-waste import ban in force from 1 January; Brooks, Wang and Jambeck publish estimate (20 June)
- 2019Philippines sends 69 containers back to Canada (31 May); Indonesia returns containers
- 2020Malaysia returns 150 containers to 13 countries (20 January); Interpol report on plastic-waste crime (August)
- 2023EU exports 1.3 Mt of recyclable plastic outside the bloc (Eurostat); England sends more than 25% of its plastic-waste exports to Türkiye (Recoup)
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
How it looked
Shown
Recorded
- China took 45% of cumulative global plastic-waste imports since 1992 (about 106 Mt); the ban would displace an estimated 111 Mt by 2030
- Malaysia returned 150 containers (3,737 t) to 13 countries and shut more than 200 illegal plants
- Of 58 US containers Indonesia was reported to have returned, only 12 went back to the US (BAN and Nexus3)
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: No independent ecological evaluation is on record.
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Accounts
- Disputed How many containers did Indonesia send back, and where did they go?
Record
- Disputed Container counts for Indonesia's 2019 returns conflict (49, 57 and 58).
- Not disclosed Ocean-bound plastic certification fees are not published by Zero Plastic Oceans or Control Union, and Verra's fee schedule page (2 November 2022) showed no figures.
Did the harm stop?
Not on record: the Interpol report of August 2020 describes illegal shipments being rerouted to South-East Asia via transit countries.
Who paid?
Not on record in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Government and regulators
- Eurostat news: EU exports of recyclable plasticEurostat · 2024-10-11
Press and investigations
- Malaysia returns 150 containers of plastic wasteWaste360 · 2020-01-20
- Philippines ships 69 containers of dumped rubbish back to CanadaAl Jazeera · 2019-05-31
- Indonesia waste plastic export and import illegal (BAN/Nexus3 findings)Mongabay · 2019-11
Communities and civil society
Researchers
- Brooks, Wang & Jambeck, Science Advances, doi:10.1126/sciadv.aat0131Science Advances · 2018-06-20