Since we wrote about "
Plastics in the Spotlight", there have been further
developments in Canada. The Philippines shipment has been returned
to Canada, additional countries have rejected waste shipments, and
Federal, provincial and municipal governments across Canada are
entertaining legislative responses and plastic bag bans.
Canadian Waste in Foreign Places
China's 2017 ban on the import of foreign garbage, including
plastic has contributed to an increase of waste being shipped to
various overseas locations.1 From 1992 to 2016, China
imported 45% of the world's total plastic waste. Following the
ban, illegal recycling factories began operating in developing
countries to take advantage of the demand, by burning or burying
plastic scraps.2
