Michikazu Kojima: Waste Plastic and Asia

2019/12/16

Interest is growing both domestically and internationally in two plastic-related issues: the problem of marine plastics and the issues accompanying China's import restrictions on waste plastic. For both problems, the focus of discussion is on Asian countries where economic development is progressing.

Research on marine plastics began as early as the 1950s, and concerns have been raised about their impact on ecosystems. In recent years, it has come to be recognized that marine plastic is becoming a new threat to the global environment.

In 2011, the Science and Technical Advisory Panel of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)—established as a financial mechanism to address global environmental issues such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change—compiled a report titled "Marine Debris as a Global Environmental Problem." The report points out that the impact of marine plastics on ecosystems is becoming apparent and that traditional nature conservation approaches, such as establishing protected areas, are no longer effective, necessitating new responses.

This report was submitted to the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2012, where it was resolved to collect information regarding the impact of marine debris on marine and coastal biodiversity.

It is estimated that 80 percent of marine plastic originates on land and reaches the sea through the flow of rivers and other waterways. By country, it is estimated that developing countries in Asia, such as China, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, are generating marine plastic (J. R. Jambeck, et al. "Plastic Waste Inputs from Land into the Ocean," Science, Vol. 347, No. 6223, 2015).

This estimates the amount of waste plastic flowing into the ocean from each country based on factors such as the population living within 50 kilometers of the coast, waste generation per capita, the proportion of waste that is uncollected or improperly treated, and the proportion of plastic in the waste. Although these estimates are based on many assumptions, they highlight the need to strengthen measures in developing Asian countries where incomes are rising and plastic use is increasing, while waste collection and proper disposal have not progressed (Photo).

While China has not launched a comprehensive policy specifically for marine debris, it has been strengthening waste management to prevent waste from flowing into the marine environment. Additionally, since 2007, it has been monitoring marine debris and microplastics in more than 50 areas. Furthermore, since the 1990s, the littering of Styrofoam lunch boxes and plastic shopping bags has been a problem known as "white pollution." Their use has been banned in some cities, and the provision of plastic containers on trains and ships has also been prohibited.

In 2018, Indonesia established a committee on marine debris chaired by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs via presidential decree to coordinate the efforts of relevant ministries. The decree also includes an action plan detailing 59 measures and the ministries in charge. The scope of these efforts is broad, ranging from awareness-raising to the use of biodegradable plastics and the recycling of waste plastic.

Thailand established a subcommittee on plastic waste management under the National Environment Board and compiled a roadmap, which received cabinet approval in April 2019. It includes plans to ban the use of cap seals on plastic bottles and microbeads used in cosmetics by the end of 2019, to ban the use of plastic bags thinner than 36 microns and Styrofoam containers by 2022, and to utilize 100 percent of waste plastic by 2027.

In Malaysia, the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change announced "Malaysia’s Roadmap Towards Zero Single Use Plastics 2018–2030" in September 2018. Starting with charges for plastic bags at the state level, the goal is to eliminate various single-use plastics by 2030. This roadmap was approved by the cabinet in October.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) also held a conference on marine debris in November 2017 to discuss the direction of future efforts. A framework for action was compiled based on discussions in ASEAN working groups on the marine environment, and the Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris was adopted at the ASEAN Summit in June 2019. It is expected that measures will gradually be implemented in other ASEAN countries as well.

In 2017, as interest in the marine plastic problem grew significantly, China—which until then had imported more than half of the waste plastic traded globally—announced a policy to ban the import of waste plastic. At the end of 2017, it banned the import of waste plastic used in households, and at the end of 2018, it also banned the import of waste plastic generated in factories.

Until then, China had imported waste plastic to manufacture plastic products such as toys and textile products for export to the world. However, dirty waste plastic was being exported to China, and environmental pollution was being caused during the plastic recycling process (Michikazu Kojima, "Recycling and the Global Economy," 2018).

Waste plastic that lost its largest export destination, China, began to be exported to Southeast Asia and Eastern European countries. However, it was pointed out that waste plastic was being improperly disposed of in Eastern European countries, and in Southeast Asia, pollution during the recycling process and improper treatment of residues became apparent around April 2018. As a result, measures to strengthen import regulations spread. By early 2019, the volume of waste plastic imports in Southeast Asian countries had decreased to a level similar to that before China's strengthening of import regulations. The global trade volume of waste plastic in 2018 fell to about 60 percent of the 2016 level.

According to the "Results of the Survey on the Impact of Waste Import Regulations by Foreign Governments" (2019) published by the Ministry of the Environment, while no illegal dumping has been reported in Japan, it is reported that due to the decrease in exports, violations of storage standards—where the amount stored exceeds the upper limit—are increasing in some areas.

However, China, which banned imports, has come to allow the import of washed flakes and recycled pellets manufactured from waste plastic (raw materials that can be used for injection molding, extrusion molding, etc.) as long as they meet certain quality standards, as they are not considered waste plastic.

Among the waste plastic exported to Southeast Asia after China's strengthening of import regulations, some contained mixtures of various types of waste plastic. While these were sorted in Southeast Asian countries and exported to China in forms such as pellets, the residues were being improperly treated.

Since China's strengthening of import regulations, investment in the sorting of waste plastic by type and the manufacture of flakes and recycled pellets has been gradually progressing on the exporting country side. However, some operators collecting waste plastic have held back on investing in sorting and the manufacture of flakes and recycled pellets, thinking that China's import regulations might be relaxed.

In the past, even when the Chinese government strengthened regulations, exports continued because enforcement was not strict. Therefore, many operators believed that regulations would be relaxed in a short period this time as well. It can be said that the uncertainty regarding the possibility of regulations being relaxed has discouraged investment in proper plastic recycling, including equipment for pollution prevention.

However, the current import regulations are considered to have been decided at the top level of the Chinese government, and it is unlikely that they will be relaxed. Furthermore, in May 2019, the annexes to the Basel Convention, which regulates the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, were revised, and trade regulations for dirty plastics are expected to become stricter on the exporting country side as well (Michikazu Kojima, "Trade Regulations on Waste Plastic and Resource Circulation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Vol. 12, No. 2, 2019).

It is unlikely that the strengthening of trade regulations will be relaxed within the next few years, and it is thought that exporting countries should proceed with investments in the sorting of various plastics, flaking, and pellet manufacturing.

Plastic has been used as a substitute for various resources such as forest resources like paper and wood, fibers like cotton, metals, and glass. There are many products where it is possible to substitute plastic with materials that were originally used. On the other hand, there are also many cases where alternative materials are limited. Furthermore, the use of alternative materials may cause environmental problems. While there are movements to substitute with biodegradable plastics, there is not yet a plastic that decomposes in any natural environment.

It is necessary to suppress the use of plastics that are intended to be scattered in the environment, such as strings used in balloon release events, as much as possible, while also promoting waste collection, proper disposal, and recycling in developing Asian countries. In Japan, Styrofoam boxes from supermarkets and fish markets are recycled, but in many Southeast Asian regions, the collection and recycling of Styrofoam are not carried out. Efforts related to recycling need to be further advanced.

Furthermore, it is important for all countries, including developed ones, to promote the use of alternative materials in a way that does not impose a large environmental burden. Additionally, the development of biodegradable plastics that decompose under various conditions is desired.