Chinese officials doubled down on plans to ban virtually all recovered material imports by the end of the year, despite opposition from U.S. interests.
Chinese officials doubled down on plans to ban virtually all recovered material imports by the end of the year, despite opposition from U.S. interests.
The Chinese government last week issued its latest round of recovered paper import permits, approving 2.5 million tons.
After announcing stringent recovered paper import restrictions set to take effect this week, Indonesian officials changed course and postponed the rules indefinitely.
The Vietnamese government has reiterated its plan to phase out scrap plastic imports altogether, noting all scrap plastic will be barred beginning in 2025.
Chris Cui on stage at the 2019 Plastics Recycling Conference and Trade Show.
Although the recycling relationship between the U.S. and China was hampered by scrap material restrictions, an expert says companies in both countries can help each other.
China has decreased purchases of old corrugated containers, which has caused domestic and export prices for the key fiber grade to fall.
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China’s scrap import restrictions and their rippling market effects pared recycling revenues for Waste Management and Waste Connections last year.
Recycling revenues fell last year for one major hauler, hampered by China’s import restrictions and low fiber prices. Meanwhile, the company opened what it calls a next-generation MRF in Texas.
U.S. trade figures for November 2018 were released last week, showing that more recovered fiber and significantly less plastic was shipped out of the country.
Year-end customs figures from the Chinese government quantify the country’s marked decrease in recyclable material purchases in the first year of new import restrictions.