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Is this not misleading? I thought that most countries offload their plastic waste to regions in Asia (paying them to take it), so of course Asia comes off looki

Is this not misleading? I thought that most countries offload their plastic waste to regions in Asia (paying them to take it), so of course Asia comes off looking as the largest emitter.

sparky_z 5y ago
You're assuming that the plastic that gets sold is the same plastic that ends up in the rivers. Do we know that's the case? And if so, how does it go from being "in the system" to being discarded into the environment? Why would they pay money for it, just to throw it in a river?
- lucasyvas 5y ago
  I wasn't trying to make an assumption - the report just didn't read how I expected. And I'm not absolving them of responsibility, but the richest countries pay to offload plastic on them knowing pretty well there is no way to get rid of it besides tossing it. Those Asian regions that burn it have awful air quality issues. Should these regions refuse money for our plastic? Probably - but this paints an incomplete picture.
  - wombatmobile 5y ago
    Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn't Want It? https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/702501726/where-will-your-plastic-trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/7025017... Plastic garbage from Trader Joe's and an AARP card are peeking out of hillocks of plastic trash piling up in Indonesia. It's a sign of a new global quandary: What should wealthy countries do with their plastic waste now that China no longer is buying it?
- ectopod 5y ago
  Asian importers pay for containers of clean, recyclable waste from the UK. When it arrives they find they've got a container full of general household waste, which is of no use for anything. I don't know how common this is but there have been several UK companies prosecuted for it. I've also seen stories where British reporters have gone to Asia and documented piles of obviously British waste in local dumps. These stories crop up in the British media quite frequently.
TeeWEE 5y ago
Exactly my thought... https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/environment/plastic-for-recycling-from-europe-ends-up-in-asian-waters/ https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/environment/plastic-for... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48455440 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48455440
nomaxx117 5y ago
Not really. Most of this waste seems to be single-use, and if you read through the cited references, the primary factor seems to be the inability to manage waste plastics from locally consumed products. Rivers are tempting targets for waste disposal if you lack a good waste management service locally.
adventured 5y ago
> Is this not misleading? No. > I thought that most countries offload their plastic waste to regions in Asia (paying them to take it), so of course Asia comes off looking as the largest emitter. Why would that be the case? Asia's consumers - billions of them - are now the world's largest in terms of unit consumption/use/disposal of plastic. I don't think anybody could miss the fact that China's consumer economy is now by far the world's largest in unit terms. And it's set to get quite larger yet. China has more plastic consumers than the US + EU combined at this point. Just Indonesia + the Philippines = 380 million consumers. They buy, use and dispose of enormous amounts of plastic. These nations are not living in the 18th century, they have full access to plastic consumer goods/packaging, whether manufactured domestically or from China.

Is this not misleading? I thought that most countries offload their plastic waste to regions in Asia (paying them to take it), so of course Asia comes off looking as the largest emitter.

sparky_z 5y ago

You're assuming that the plastic that gets sold is the same plastic that ends up in the rivers. Do we know that's the case? And if so, how does it go from being "in the system" to being discarded into the environment? Why would they pay money for it, just to throw it in a river?

lucasyvas 5y ago
I wasn't trying to make an assumption - the report just didn't read how I expected. And I'm not absolving them of responsibility, but the richest countries pay to offload plastic on them knowing pretty well there is no way to get rid of it besides tossing it. Those Asian regions that burn it have awful air quality issues. Should these regions refuse money for our plastic? Probably - but this paints an incomplete picture.
- wombatmobile 5y ago
  Where Will Your Plastic Trash Go Now That China Doesn't Want It? https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/702501726/where-will-your-plastic-trash-go-now-that-china-doesnt-want-it https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/7025017... Plastic garbage from Trader Joe's and an AARP card are peeking out of hillocks of plastic trash piling up in Indonesia. It's a sign of a new global quandary: What should wealthy countries do with their plastic waste now that China no longer is buying it?
ectopod 5y ago
Asian importers pay for containers of clean, recyclable waste from the UK. When it arrives they find they've got a container full of general household waste, which is of no use for anything. I don't know how common this is but there have been several UK companies prosecuted for it. I've also seen stories where British reporters have gone to Asia and documented piles of obviously British waste in local dumps. These stories crop up in the British media quite frequently.

TeeWEE 5y ago

Exactly my thought... https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/environment/plastic-for-recycling-from-europe-ends-up-in-asian-waters/ https://www.europeanscientist.com/en/environment/plastic-for... https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48455440 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48455440

nomaxx117 5y ago

Not really. Most of this waste seems to be single-use, and if you read through the cited references, the primary factor seems to be the inability to manage waste plastics from locally consumed products. Rivers are tempting targets for waste disposal if you lack a good waste management service locally.

adventured 5y ago

> Is this not misleading? No. > I thought that most countries offload their plastic waste to regions in Asia (paying them to take it), so of course Asia comes off looking as the largest emitter. Why would that be the case? Asia's consumers - billions of them - are now the world's largest in terms of unit consumption/use/disposal of plastic. I don't think anybody could miss the fact that China's consumer economy is now by far the world's largest in unit terms. And it's set to get quite larger yet. China has more plastic consumers than the US + EU combined at this point. Just Indonesia + the Philippines = 380 million consumers. They buy, use and dispose of enormous amounts of plastic. These nations are not living in the 18th century, they have full access to plastic consumer goods/packaging, whether manufactured domestically or from China.