China’s Ban on Recyclables: Beyond the Obvious…

January 18, 2018

January 23, 2018


Today’s Guest Blog is courtesy of International Solid Waste Association President Antonis Mavropoulos. The article originally appeared in the ISWA Blog on January 16 2018.


China’s ban on recyclables is one of the most disruptive movements for the recycling industry and it is shifting the global landscape for resource recovery activities.


For ISWA’s members and friends the disruption from China’s ban is not a surprise. We opened this discussion in 2014 with our groundbreaking report “Global Recycling Markets: Plastic Waste A story for one player – China” (authored by Costas Velis in the framework of the “Globalization & Waste Management” project). But still, the new reality provides the opportunity to think deeper on recycling & Circular Economy and to face the new landscape from a broader perspective. 


In his latest blog post, ISWA President Antonis Mavropoulos addresses the bigger picture and looks beyond the obvious to understand the global impacts of the ban.


1. China was the convenient answer to an inconvenient question 


For the recycling industry, the question was, and still is, how to find end-users for a continuously increasing stream of recyclable materials. The difficulty is that, as we have learnt, the more the recyclables we collect the less their purity and the worse their quality. China, as the global hub for recyclable materials, provided an easy answer for some time. For at least two decades, it was receiving recyclables, especially plastics, with high impurities. Most of the recyclables that were shipped to China were not suitable for other regional and local end-users, in USA, EU and Australia due to their low-quality. However, this was a win-win situation. The western world was able build high recycling rates, ignoring the quality problems involved, and China received cheap, low-end materials that were further processed or used as a cheap fuel, with vast environmental impacts in both cases. China’s ban brings us back to reality. 


As we have been accustomed to a continuous, and sometimes unjustified, rally for higher recycling rates, it’s time to recognize that more recycling can be a misleading scope if it’s a stand-alone one. The right target is to achieve more high quality recyclables. This does not always mean higher recycling rates, although in many cases this is definitely part of the job. In some cases, it means that we should work hard to “purify” further the existing recycling activities to make them more viable and to provide them more local and regional end-users. In other cases, it means that we must select carefully which materials are recycled and how. In all cases, it obliges us to rethink the feasibility of the recycling activities exactly as they are: as market-based activities.


2. China’s ban highlights the vulnerability of the recycling markets


Recyclables are part of the global supply chains. Thus, their prices are related to the prices of the commodities that they substitute. In 2008, we realized how close this relationship was when immediately after the collapse of Lehman Brothers’ Co, that signaled the beginning of the world’s worst economic crisis since the oil crisis in 70s, the prices of recycled paper and plastics collapsed too. Between 2008 and 2012, especially in USA and Australia, and less in EU, we watched thousands of recycling programmes shut-down or radically eliminate their coverage and intensity, because of the global economic crisis. China’s Green Fence operation in 2012-2013 was another signal, although with much lower impact, that demonstrated the high sensitivity of the global recycling markets to the Chinese dominance. Now, the recent radical China’s ban highlights that we have lost at least 10 years (2008-2018) to rethink and reshape the role and performance of the recycling markets, and to conclude that our recycling systems would never become sustainable if they remain so dependent on China’s, or anyone else’s, policies and attitudes.


But have we really lost ten years? My answer is yes, because ten years are more than enough to create policy incentives to boost local recycling markets. Because, as we have thoroughly and in depth discussed and documented in ISWA’s Task Force on Resource Management, we need much less than ten years to shift from massive recycling to selective single-clean stream source separation. Because we faced, day by day, the increasing complexity and cost of the “business as usual” recycling activities and we underestimated that this will drive the systems to higher vulnerability too. Because we did not say clearly that there will be no closed loops without high quality recyclables, and that the high recycling rates do not always mean better environmental results. Because we did not explain that recyclables are raw materials for industries that should be capable to receive them, and that is not always happening automatically and without proper policies, incentives and costs for the industrial sectors too. 


3. China’s ban will create global environmental impacts 


China, officially, explains that the recent ban is a part of its broader environmental and health protection policy. It is also a measure that will stimulate domestic recycling activities. The Chinese government puts a lot of efforts in place to reduce pollution and improve the environmental quality of the country. Any improvement, or deterioration, in the Chinese environmental conditions creates a global impact. But even if all those good intentions will be realized, the benefits for China will probably create environmental problems in other parts of the world.


As western citizens, we can’t complain about the fact that now we must ourselves deal with the pollution that was exported, together with the recyclables, in China for many years. We must find a way to deal with this pollution load and with the related recyclables. It will take us a transit period of 2-4 years, but there is no doubt that sooner or later, there will be a way to deal with the problem with minimum environmental impacts. Maybe we will recycle less but better, maybe some plastics will be dumped or burnt, but finally our waste management and recycling systems will adapt to the new reality.


The problem is which exactly will be the adaptation plan that the recycling industry will choose. In fact, if the adaptation plan involves continuing massive exports, although in a smaller scale, of “dirty recyclables” in different countries, trying to find the lowest environmental standards, cheap labor and lack of enforcement & control, then there will be substantial environmental impacts to other parts of the world, most probably nearby China in SE Asia and Africa too. Of course, no country can substitute China’s almost endless capacity to absorb the world’s plastic scrap, but there are already discussions to use neighboring countries and the same logistic networks to sustain the current business model as much as possible. This is already “sold” to some governments as developing a national competitive advantage or as an opportunity to develop low-tech recycling industries and cheap, but of-course very dirty, energy outlets.

We do not know if and what will be the alternative recyclables’ markets to China, but we do know that for the next period more low-quality plastics will be looking for outlets. We can only hope that they will not become part of the marine-litter and that they will find either proper recovery solutions or at least environmental safe final sinks. 


4. China’s ban signals the need to think Circular Economy beyond recycling 

 

If we want to be bold and ambitious, we have to grab the opportunity of the China ban to promote another adaptation plan. A plan that will prioritize waste prevention and reuse as the most urgent priorities of any system. A plan that will recognize the current technical and economic limitations of recycling. A plan that will boost eco and modular design, utilizing the unbelievable technological advances of the fourth industrial revolution. A plan that will demand not only the consumers to develop “greener behaviors”, but also, and mainly, the industries to develop new business models and manufacturing patterns. A plan that will stimulate Circular Economy as a realistic opportunity for specific materials and industrial sectors, rather than as an obligation of the waste sector.


China’s ban is a great opportunity to rethink Circular Economy and to prioritize the development of local closed loops, as a basic condition for the long-term viability of our systems. You will never see anyone involved in organic fraction source separation programs to be worried about China’s ban. Recycling the organic fraction into organic-rich soil improvers is a sustainable local closed loop that contributes directly to Circular Economy. Still, in EU there is no mandatory target for organics’ recycling – it’s time to fix this problem.

China’s ban is a great opportunity to move away from the fallacy that everything can be and should be recycled. It’s an opportunity to face materials’ recycling as just one intermediate, imperfect and sometimes costly solution that does not always contribute to Circular Economy. There are scientific works that prove that the more we push people to recycle, the more we cultivate the wrong idea that recycling (and not waste prevention, reuse, eco-design and the necessary industrial shift of the Circular Economy) is the solution. 


5. China’s ban for plastic scrap will result in more virgin plastic consumption


For the USA only, China’s ban has the potential to affect US$ 6.5 billion of annual exports and 150,000 related jobs. SWANA, ISWA’s biggest National Member in USA & Canada, has already filed its comments to WTO and offered technical assistance to the Chinese Government. But what seems an existential risk for curbside recycling programs in USA, for some may be a minor loss for a high gain. To understand the whole picture, we must quit the waste management and recycling view.\


The big money will go to the plastic industry. Morgan Stanley predicts that the China ban could shift about 2% of global polyethylene plastics supply from recycled to new plastic material! For plastic producers those are great news, the ban will boost demand for new plastics by enough to nearly absorb all the new polyethylene output coming online next year in the USA!


The effects can already be seen in China’s increased appetite for virgin polyethylene, with imports up 19% this year as scrap polyethylene imports dropped 11%! It seems that the US plastic industry is well prepared for the upcoming explosion of plastic exports to China. That’s because, according the Bloomberg, the US has become the cheapest place in the world to make plastic, thanks to a fracking boom that’s created a glut of natural gas, the main feedstock for manufacturing. Taking advantage of low gas prices, chemical producers have invested an unprecedented $185 billion to build new capacity. Just four new U.S. plastics plants will soon begin annual production of 3.6 million tons of polyethylene by year.


China’s ban for plastic scrap imports is a generous gift to the US plastic industry, that will help the US to rebalance the $250 billion trade deficit with China, a goal that has been on the top of President Donald Trump’s agenda.


China’s ban is a problem for recyclers and the waste industry, but a golden opportunity for the plastic industry. Circular Economy can wait while some hundreds of billion dollars will be invested to traditional “linear” systems that will promote the “throw-away” and “fast consumption” model… 


The International Solid Waste Association strives to promote and develop sustainable and professional waste management worldwide. This article was reprinted by permission.



NERC welcomes Guest Blog submissions.  Disclaimer: Guest blogs represent the opinion of the writers and may not reflect the policy or position of the Northeast Recycling Council, Inc.


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Thrifting, consumer habits may help shift textile recycling challenges

By Megan Quinn | WasteDive • July 8, 2026
A resurgence of secondhand shopping, new sorting methods and policy initiatives are all poised to help shift the needle on textile waste, speakers at a NERC webinar said. Thrift stores are a first line of defense against textile waste, and changing attitudes about thrifting and resale could help shape recycling systems and divert more material from landfills in coming years, said speakers at the Northeast Recycling Council’s material reuse forum webinar on Tuesday. Secondhand clothing is playing a powerful role in U.S. textile export markets, which in turn influences how and when textiles end up in recycling streams, said executives from thrift stores and researchers from the National Institute for Standards in Technology. A rising interest in thrifting, upcycling and clothing repair could help keep clothing in use longer, and when textiles are too worn out to wear, newer sorting technologies could help sort end-of-life textiles more effectively for better end markets, they said. Here’s a few takeaways from the webinar: Thrift stores: making landfill diversion look cool Thrifting is not a new concept, but Americans have become more and more receptive to thrifting in recent years due to a combination of rising expenses, tariff concerns and economic uncertainty. There’s also the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had more time to look through their closets for unwanted items to donate, said Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, a nonprofit youth job training program in the Boston area. More Than Words uses its thrift stores as a key way to offer job training and provide stable jobs for the youth who participate in the program, she said. The organization used to sell used books, but a fresh wave of interest in secondhand shopping spurred by the pandemic prompted the nonprofit to switch to a thrift store model instead. “This was not only a crucial pivot for the environment and to keep more things out of the landfill, but also do well for our business and our young people too,” she said. The nonprofit’s thrift stores, called Boomerangs, offer a 98% margin compared to its previous 62% retail bookstore model, and Manganaro Cronin expects that to continue in coming years. Gen Z shoppers are leading the trend, in part because reducing their environmental footprint is a core value for the demographic, she said. About 64% of shoppers in that age range look at resale options before buying new products, she said. Young shoppers are expected to continue influencing this trend, said Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, a thrift store nonprofit that has collected and reused more than 2 billion pounds of clothing since its inception in 1997. Citing numbers from an annual resale report prepared by online thrift company ThredUp, she added that the U.S. secondhand apparel market grew 14% in 2024, and the market is anticipated to reach $74 billion by 2029. The next step: Labor-intensive export and recycling markets More Than Words and other thrift stores like it does its best to sell as many items as possible. But for items that can’t sell, the organization often partners with secondary buyers, such as wholesalers who have access to a broad range of additional secondhand markets, Manganaro Cronin said. Stosch said thrift stores and other secondhand stores typically sell between 10% and 50% of their items, and a “small amount’ ends up going in the trash — mostly soiled items not fit for wearing or using. Another portion gets classified as “mixed rags” and baled for export, where they are further sorted for more reuse, resale or recycling purposes, she said. Many of these bales end up in Pakistan and Malaysia, where workers are trained to go through the time-consuming process of hand sorting each piece to separate out the quality clothes for resale while setting aside lower-quality textiles for other uses. “It’s very, very labor intensive to do this. You stand for long hours and have to pick through all the right things,” she said. Because it takes so much time to sort these items correctly, “there’s a limit to how much textiles we can process this way,” she said. From there, many of the clothes destined for resale go to countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Central America. More than 1.5 billion people around the world rely on second-hand clothing, she said, especially as an alternative to low-quality fast fashion brands. Guatemala has a particularly strong secondhand import market, she said. A 2025 study from Full Cycle Resource noted that the country imported 290 million pounds of clothing in 2023 and reused more than 91% of it, with women-owned clothing stores making up more than half of the industry. Complex streams, complex recycling options When clothing or textiles are too worn out or unfit to be worn again, and have already been downgraded to be used as rags or industrial cloth, recycling is one of the next best options. That’s when a new set of challenges kick in, said Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at NIST. Textiles are a complex and challenging waste stream to sort, in part because there are no set standards on how to handle the materials today, she said. Setting standards “would help scale up in efficiency in this system,” she added. Another problem: Textile sorting is largely done by hand, as opposed to other recycled materials that can quickly be sorted by a range of AI-enabled robotic sorting technologies, Goodge said. One reason hand sorting is the norm is because it’s tough to tell exactly what a garment is made of. “We need to know the fiber content to know how to recycle that garment,” she said, but the tag inside might simply say it’s made of 95% rayon and 5% “other.” A particularly itchy tag might get cut out of the garment entirely. “We need to look at a more systematic and technological solution to this,” she said – and technology is catching up. Handheld near-infrared devices can give insight into a garment’s material makeup, and when paired with AI or machine learning models, identifying fiber contents can become faster and more efficient. A handheld NIR scanner could be paired with hand sorting to guide garments into the right bins, Goodge said, and larger-scale solutions might be able to identify textiles while they’re on a conveyor belt, with a robotic arm component to pick off specific items. In the U.S., textile recycling infrastructure is not as common as recycling systems for curbside materials, though some companies have invested in such technology in recent years. A future of reuse, repair and policy change Legislation could make a difference in textile recycling initiatives in coming years, the speakers said. California’s extended producer responsibility for textiles law is in the process of being implemented, which will prompt more outlets for clothing donation, repair and recycling, Stosch said. Countries in the EU are also on the hook to implement similar textile EPR programs. Meanwhile, disposal bans in states like Massachusetts have prompted both thrift stores and lawmakers to wonder what to do with textiles that aren’t fit for resale but could be recycled into other products, Stosch said. Most thrift stores will accept apparel that’s torn or missing buttons, as long as it’s clean: “If it’s clean, it can be made into something else.” There’s also more room for creative ways to reuse or repair clothing before it goes to a recycling center, speakers added. For example, community repair events are good ways to teach basic sewing skills and inspire people to make something new with old apparel, Goodge said. “We used to have some infrastructure in the U.S. for repair, and that has largely sort of gone away, because it’s really hard to keep that economically viable,” she said. Yet repair efforts “have a huge potential to keep a lot of these garments as garments.” Read on WasteDive.

Thrift Stores as Key to Textile Waste Reduction and Recycling Please mention the Source

By IndexBox • July 8, 2026
Thrift stores act as a frontline barrier against textile waste, and shifting consumer perspectives on thrifting and resale could help refine recycling systems and pull more material away from landfills in the years ahead, according to panelists at a Northeast Recycling Council material reuse forum webinar held on Tuesday. Executives from thrift stores and researchers from the National Institute for Standards and Technology pointed out that secondhand clothing holds a strong position in U.S. textile export markets, which in turn shapes how and when textiles reach recycling streams. A rising enthusiasm for thrifting, upcycling, and clothing repair could extend the useful life of garments, and when textiles become too worn for wear, emerging sorting technologies could more efficiently handle end-of-life textiles to improve end markets, they noted. Thrift Stores: Making Landfill Diversion Attractive Thrifting is not a novel idea, but Americans have grown increasingly open to it in recent years due to a mix of rising costs, tariff worries, and economic instability, along with lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had extra time to sort through their closets for items to donate, said Giana Manganaro Cronin, associate director of retail for More Than Words, a nonprofit youth job training program based in the Boston area. More Than Words leverages its thrift stores as a primary means to deliver job training and secure stable employment for participating youth, she explained. The organization previously sold used books, but a surge in interest in secondhand shopping triggered by the pandemic led the nonprofit to adopt a thrift store model instead. This shift was not only vital for the environment and for keeping more items out of landfills, but also beneficial for the business and the young people involved, she said. The nonprofit's thrift stores, known as Boomerangs, achieve a 98% margin compared to the previous 62% margin from its retail bookstore model, and Manganaro Cronin anticipates this trend will persist. Gen Z shoppers are driving this movement, partly because minimizing their environmental impact is a fundamental value for that group, she noted. About 64% of shoppers in that age bracket explore resale options before purchasing new items, she added. Young consumers are expected to keep shaping this trend, said Uli Stosch, chief officer of strategic development for Planet Aid, a thrift store nonprofit that has gathered and reused over 2 billion pounds of clothing since its founding in 1997. Drawing on data from an annual resale report by online thrift company ThredUp, she noted that the U.S. secondhand apparel market expanded by 14% in 2024 and is projected to hit $74 billion by 2029. Labor-Intensive Export and Recycling Markets More Than Words and similar thrift stores strive to sell as many items as possible, but for unsellable goods, the organization frequently collaborates with secondary buyers such as wholesalers who have access to a wide array of additional secondhand markets, Manganaro Cronin said. Stosch noted that thrift stores and other secondhand retailers typically sell between 10% and 50% of their inventory, with a minor portion ending up in the trash, mainly soiled items unsuitable for wearing or use. Another share is categorized as mixed rags and baled for export, where it undergoes further sorting for reuse, resale, or recycling. Many of these bales are sent to Pakistan and Malaysia, where workers are trained to manually sort each piece to separate quality clothing for resale while diverting lower-quality textiles for other uses. Stosch described this process as extremely labor-intensive, requiring long hours of standing and sorting through items, and noted that there is a cap on how much textiles can be handled this way due to the time involved. From there, many clothes intended for resale are shipped to countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Central America. Over 1.5 billion people globally depend on secondhand clothing, she said, particularly as an alternative to low-quality fast fashion brands. Guatemala has a notably strong secondhand import market, she added. A 2025 study by Full Cycle Resource found that the country imported 290 million pounds of clothing in 2023 and reused more than 91% of it, with women-owned clothing stores accounting for over half of the industry. Complex Streams, Complex Recycling Options When clothing or textiles are too worn or unfit for further wear and have already been downgraded to rags or industrial cloth, recycling becomes one of the next best options. This is where a fresh set of difficulties emerges, said Katarina Goodge, a materials research engineer at NIST. Textiles represent a complex and challenging waste stream to sort, partly because no established standards exist for handling these materials today, she said. Establishing standards would help boost efficiency in this system, she added. Another issue is that textile sorting is predominantly done manually, unlike other recycled materials that can be quickly sorted using various AI-enabled robotic sorting technologies, Goodge noted. One reason manual sorting remains standard is the difficulty in determining a garment's exact composition. Goodge explained that knowing the fiber content is essential to know how to recycle a garment, but the tag inside might only state it is made of 95% rayon and 5% other, or an itchy tag might be completely removed. She emphasized the need for a more systematic and technological approach, and noted that technology is advancing. Handheld near-infrared devices can reveal a garment's material composition, and when combined with AI or machine learning models, identifying fiber contents can become faster and more efficient. A handheld NIR scanner could be used alongside manual sorting to direct garments into appropriate bins, Goodge said, and larger-scale systems might identify textiles while on a conveyor belt, with a robotic arm component to pick out specific items. In the U.S., textile recycling infrastructure is less common than curbside recycling systems, though some companies have invested in such technology in recent years. A Future of Reuse, Repair, and Policy Change Legislation could drive changes in textile recycling efforts in the years ahead, the speakers said. California's extended producer responsibility for textiles law is being implemented, which will encourage more outlets for clothing donation, repair, and recycling, Stosch said. Countries in the EU are also required to implement similar textile EPR programs. Meanwhile, disposal bans in states like Massachusetts have led both thrift stores and lawmakers to consider what to do with textiles that are not suitable for resale but could be recycled into other products, Stosch said. Most thrift stores will accept apparel that is torn or missing buttons, as long as it is clean, she noted, adding that if it is clean, it can be turned into something else. There is also potential for creative ways to reuse or repair clothing before it reaches a recycling center, speakers added. For instance, community repair events are effective for teaching basic sewing skills and inspiring people to create something new from old apparel, Goodge said. She noted that the U.S. once had some infrastructure for repair, but that has largely disappeared because it is difficult to keep economically viable, yet repair efforts have significant potential to keep many garments as garments. P Read on IndexBox.

NERC report analyzes regional glass recycling

By Chris Voloschuk | Recycling Today • July 3, 2026
The Northeast Recycling Council (NERC), Brattleboro, Vermont, recently released its “ Northeast Flow of Glass Report ,” a regional analysis looking at glass container generation, collection, recycling, disposal, policies and end markets across the 11 states in the 11 Northeast states. The report was developed by NERC’s Glass Committee with support from state agencies, industry partners and stakeholders across the region and builds on the organization’s previous research into glass recovery, processing and end markets. NERC says it is meant to provide a comprehensive snapshot of how glass moves through the Northeast materials management system and highlights opportunities to strengthen glass recycling through policy, infrastructure investment and market development. According to NERC , key findings in the report include: Vermont (79.9 percent) and Connecticut (77 percent)—two states that operate deposit return systems (DRS)—recycled the highest share of glass containers relative to total glass container scrap generated. Connecticut led the region in per capita glass collection at 65.8 pounds per resident. New York collected the greatest total tonnage of glass containers for recycling at 281,065 tons annually, followed by New Jersey with approximately 197,000 tons. Five states in the region operate DRS programs that include glass beverage containers. All Northeast states provide residents with access to curbside and/or drop-off recycling programs. Reporting methodologies vary significantly among states, affecting direct comparisons of recycling performance. Recycled glass supports multiple end markets, including new containers, fiberglass, concrete applications and aggregate products. “Glass is one of the few packaging materials that can be recycled repeatedly with minimal loss of quality,” says NERC Executive Director Megan Schulz-Fontes. “The data show that strong collection systems and supportive policies can significantly increase glass recovery and create valuable feedstock for manufacturers.” NERC says its findings demonstrate that opportunities exist across the region to increase glass recovery through improved collection systems, stronger processing infrastructure and continued end market development. It also claims its analysis reveals “substantial variation” in state reporting methodologies, recycling requirements and collection systems. Per the report, while all Northeast states provide residents with access to curbside and/or drop-off programs, collection models differ considerably. Five states operate DRS programs, several off source-separated glass drop-off programs and Pennsylvania is the only state identified as providing source-separated curbside glass collection in select communities. NERC says these differences present challenges when comparing data across states and highlight the need for continued efforts to improve reporting consistency and transparency. The report notes that recycled glass serves a growing number of end markets, including new glass containers, fiberglass insulation, pozzolan for concrete, foam glass aggregate and other construction applications. “Many of these markets require high-quality glass cullet with low contamination levels, making effective collection and processing systems essential,” NERC writes. Although glass is heavier than many alternative packaging materials and can be more transportation-intensive when moved long distances, NERC reports that increasing local and regional collection, cleaning and processing capacity can improve environmental outcomes. The organization says recycled glass can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with manufacturing by replacing virgin materials and supporting a more circular economy. NERC says its findings suggest that strategic investments in collection systems, processing infrastructure and end market development could increase glass recovery rates throughout the Northeast while supporting resource conservation, economic development and reductions in GHG emissions. Read on Recycling Today .