Months after China ramped up restrictions on scrap imports, countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam are initiating similar, if less extensive, policies as officials try to get a handle on massive increases in shipments and improper use of permits.
Vietnamese authorities have boosted inspections of scrap imports and plan to halt shipments to key ports next month.
A market expert recently discussed some of the effects China’s National Sword policy has had on that country’s massive paper-products industry.
The leader of California’s recycling agency recently weighed in on China’s import restrictions, addressing concerns he’s heard from local government and industry representatives.
California officials will slow their process of crafting mandatory recycling rules for packaging, citing upheavals caused by China’s import restrictions.
China has ratcheted up inspection requirements for recyclables imported from the U.S., requiring every load to be opened for inspection and shutting down the only organization providing pre-shipment approval in the U.S.
Facing rock-bottom fiber prices, Waste Management’s recycling revenues experienced a 16 percent decrease during the first quarter of 2018.
Chinese authorities plan to halt imports of more scrap categories by the end of the year, including post-industrial scrap plastic and a variety of scrap metals. The country also announced a list of even more imports it will ban by the end of 2019.
China has issued its latest round of import permits for scrap paper and plastics, and approved volumes remain particularly low on the plastics side.
In the course of one year, Los Angeles-area exporters cut their scrap polyethylene shipments to China by 99 percent, leaving thousands of tons of plastic looking for a home. Other countries were only able to absorb about one-fifth of the volume.