sábado, 29 de julio de 2017
jueves, 20 de julio de 2017
China to WTO: Scrap plastic imports banned by year-end
By STEVE TOLOKEN
http://www.plasticsnews.com/ar ticle/20170718/NEWS/170719892/ china-to-wto-scrap-plastic- imports-banned-by-year-end
http://www.plasticsnews.com/ar
China told the World Trade
Organization (WTO) July 18 that it will ban imports of scrap plastics and other
“foreign garbage” by the end of the year, officially taking a step that had
been widely rumored in the industry.
The move drew quick
criticism from a recycling industry trade group in the United States, the
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), which said it would be “devastating”
to the global recycling industry and cost thousands of U.S. jobs.
ISRI said the ban would
include most scrap plastics, including PET, PVC, polyethylene and polystyrene,
as well as mixed papers and slag.
China’s government said it
was taking the action to protect public health and the environment.
“We found that large
amounts of dirty wastes or even hazardous wastes are mixed in the solid waste
that can be used as raw materials,” China’s Ministry of Environmental
Protection said in a notification to WTO. “This polluted the environment
seriously.”
“To protect China’s
environmental interests and people’s health, we urgently adjust the imported
solid waste list, and forbid the import of solid wastes that are highly
polluted,” it said.
Washington-based ISRI said
the move could cause severe economic harm in the United States.
“If implemented, a ban on
scrap imports will result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and closure
of many recycling businesses throughout the United States,” ISRI President
Robin Weiner said in a statement.
ISRI immediately relayed
its concerns to the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. Department of
Commerce, and briefed U.S. officials ahead of the July 19 U.S.-China
Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington.
The association said
one-third of the scrap recycled in the United States is exported, with China
being the largest market. That includes 1.42 million tons (3.1 billion pounds)
of scrap plastics, worth an estimated $495 million, out of $5.6 billion in
scrap commodities exported from the United States to China last year, it said.
“Recycled materials are key
inputs into the production of new, usable commodities for the use in value-add
production,” ISRI said. “The trade in specification-grade commodities —
metals, paper and plastics — between the United States and China is of
critical importance to the health and success of the U.S. based recycling
industry.”
The step had been rumored.
ISRI leaders said at a mid-June news conference, after returning from a trip to
China, that there were serious rumors of a ban on scrap imports, starting with
plastics. That echoed earlier comments from Chinese plastics industry
officials.
In a related development, a
Chinese plastics recycling group said that a month-long crackdown on plastics
recyclers that began July 1 had resulted in inspecting 888 factories by July
14. That’s about half of the 1,792 factories licensed to import waste plastics.
Related Articles in this Blog
Panama
exports its plastic waste to Costa Rica.
The Plastic Recycling
Market in Panama (updated).
https://apronadpanama.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-plastic-recycling-market-in-panama.html
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)