How China Broke the World's Recycling

A video on YouTube. In Explainers, a Krater category.

Summary by Krater

This video examines how WTO Technical Barriers to Trade notifications shaped global plastic recycling, detailing the economic factors behind China's 2017 import ban on recyclable materials and its broader impact on global waste management systems.

From the video

Answers: Why did global plastic recycling fail after China's import ban?

plastic recycling economics
WTO technical barriers to trade
China plastic import ban
materials recovery facility operations
MRF residual bales

What it concludes

Plastic recycling never generated more money than it cost and was never economically sustainable.
China's 2017 ban on plastic waste imports effectively ended the global recycling industry overnight.
The plastic recycling system worked for decades only because of cheap shipping and low wages in China.
Without a profitable market for recycled plastic, sorting facilities send unsorted waste to landfills or incinerators.

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