Impact of China’s National Sword Policy on the U.S. Landfill and Plastics Recycling Industry

Abstract

This paper analyzes the impacts of China’s Green Fence and National Sword Programs, under which strict contamination limits were imposed on recyclable materials, besides prohibiting imports of low quality recyclables. Specifically, this study investigates the impacts of this policy on landfills, and the risks to the U.S. plastics secondary materials market and material recovery facilities (MRFs). A hierarchical regression analysis reveals the significant impacts of China’s Green Fence and National Sword polices on the amount landfilled plastic. Controlling for oil prices, producer price index (PPI), and amount of plastic scrap exported, our findings show that the Green Fence had no statistically significant impact on the amount of plastic landfilled in the U.S. However, the quantity of plastic landfilled in the U.S. increased by 23.2% following the implementation of National Sword. Furthermore, analysis of the annual reports submitted by registered MRFs in New York (NY) state reveals that the total amount of plastic recovered by them has decreased. We suggest that demand creation and investments that improve the quality of bales are needed to help solve this economic dilemma.

Supporting Green Practices in the OR

“…There has been an increased focus on green practices since China's 2018 ban on the import of recyclable waste, and the rise in plastic medical waste from the increased use of single-use products associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. 3 Second is the financial advantage. The cost of recycling blue wrap is offset by the reduced cost of sending waste to a landfill and the discount for purchasing hospital products made from recycled blue wrap, such as bins, bedpans, and other plastic products.…”

Inequitable distribution of plastic benefits and burdens on economies and public health

“…In recent years, the cost of waste management and recycling for municipal governments has dramatically increased in the US. This is attributed to higher landfill costs (Vedantam et al, 2022), fewer buyers for recyclable material (in part due to China's 2018 plastic waste import ban), and high operational costs for recycling companies (Di et al, 2021). As a result, some US cities have temporarily or permanently suspended recycling programs that reach all households (Corkery, 2019;Cochran, 2020), instead opting for programs where households pay a fee to retain curbside collection services.…”

The plastic-scape: Applying seascape ecology to marine plastic pollution

“…Policies introduced at one scale of governance will influence others. For example, China's National Sword Policy, which regulates the import of recyclables, affected U.S. municipalities by decreasing the demand for plastic waste, ultimately driving local action (Murphy et al, 2020;Vedantam et al, 2022). Therefore, hierarchy theory provides an approach for understanding the plastic-scape as a whole and understanding the influence of interventions across levels of governance.…”