Plastic recycling done in Asia is the result of incredibly cheap return shipping as most containers come back empty.
People who get outraged about it don't understand that due to cheaper wages and energy costs, plus the need for raw feedstock in the manufacturing countries it's actually a really decent system. It's a closed loop where plastic goods are produced in Asia and recyclable plastic returns on the same ship, it gets processed and keeps raw material prices low for continued use in manufacturing for export again. It doesn't just get shipped there and thrown in a river.
The real problem, especially in South East Asia is very much cultural, many assumed that societies would become more environmentally friendly as they got richer but that is not the case, they are polluting more than ever. It's incredibly common to see people throw rubbish on the ground despite being right next to a bin.
Nearly every waterway is horrendously polluted with plastic consumer products.
It's an externality that the rest of the world must bear. The other poster here is on the money, nearly all of it comes from a few catchments.
Half the plastic in the ocean comes from 5 countries, all are in Asia.
That's the theory. However, in practice plastic recycling waste is contaminated & worthless, so much so that a number of Asian countries including China and Malaysia have banned imports.
People who get outraged about it don't understand that due to cheaper wages and energy costs, plus the need for raw feedstock in the manufacturing countries it's actually a really decent system. It's a closed loop where plastic goods are produced in Asia and recyclable plastic returns on the same ship, it gets processed and keeps raw material prices low for continued use in manufacturing for export again. It doesn't just get shipped there and thrown in a river.
The real problem, especially in South East Asia is very much cultural, many assumed that societies would become more environmentally friendly as they got richer but that is not the case, they are polluting more than ever. It's incredibly common to see people throw rubbish on the ground despite being right next to a bin. Nearly every waterway is horrendously polluted with plastic consumer products.
It's an externality that the rest of the world must bear. The other poster here is on the money, nearly all of it comes from a few catchments.
Half the plastic in the ocean comes from 5 countries, all are in Asia.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/09/asia-s-plastic-proble...