The 'garbage' that is thrown away after use, but Southeast Asia is like a 'treasure trove' and even exported globally

The 'garbage' that is thrown away after use, but Southeast Asia is like a 'treasure trove' and even exported globally

Have you ever thought about where the plastic bottles, cardboard boxes, metal cans, and other garbage you throw away every day will end up? You may think that they will be recycled, buried or incinerated, or processed into harmless substances. But you may not know that a portion of the garbage is transported abroad and becomes someone else's' treasure trove '.

These types of garbage, known as "foreign garbage", refer to industrial waste, daily necessities, and other waste that are not generated domestically, with a wide variety of types. They depart from developed countries such as Europe, America, and Japan, and are transported by sea to ports in Southeast Asia, where they are sorted, processed, exported, and even returned to China.

What kind of wonderful cycle is this? Why does our country throw away all this' garbage 'when it is used up, while Southeast Asia becomes a' treasure trove '? What impact does this have on the environment and humanity?

Why does our country throw away these 'garbage' after cutting them down

You may be curious, why does our country throw away these "garbage" after using them up instead of recycling them ourselves? The first reason is the cost issue. Recycling these 'garbage' requires a significant amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, as well as the risk of pollution and safety.

According to a study, in 2016, only about 9% of the waste plastics imported into China were recyclable, while the remaining 91% were low-quality, mixed or contaminated, requiring complex sorting, cleaning, melting and other processes to be converted into usable raw materials.

These processes not only consume a large amount of resources such as water, electricity, and oil, but also generate a large amount of pollutants such as wastewater, exhaust gas, and waste residue, causing serious harm to the environment and human health. Moreover, due to the unknown source of these "garbage", they may contain toxic and harmful substances such as heavy metals, organic solvents, bacteria, viruses, etc., posing a huge safety hazard to recycling workers. Therefore, the cost of recycling these "garbage" is much higher than their value, and even higher than the cost of purchasing new raw materials.

With the development of our country's economy and the upgrading of industries, the demand for waste plastics, paper, metal, and other waste materials in these "garbage" is gradually decreasing. On the one hand, China has established a relatively complete domestic recycling system that can meet most of the raw material needs and no longer rely on imported "garbage".

On the other hand, China's manufacturing industry is also transforming towards high-end, high-quality, and efficient directions, with higher requirements for the quality and standards of raw materials, which are no longer suitable for low-end, low-quality, and inefficient materials in these "garbage".

Why does Southeast Asia have to be a 'treasure trove'

Since these 'garbage' are a burden for our country, why should Southeast Asia be a 'treasure trove'? Some countries in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, etc., although they also have their own domestic recycling systems, due to outdated technology and management, they cannot meet the domestic demand for raw materials. Therefore, they need to import a certain amount of waste plastics, paper, metal, etc. from the outside.

These 'garbage' are a cheap source of raw materials for them, which can reduce their production costs and increase their profit margins. Moreover, due to the large supply of these 'garbage', they can negotiate and compete to obtain lower import prices, and sometimes even receive subsidies from exporting countries.

Some countries in Southeast Asia are facing serious employment pressure and poverty problems due to economic underdevelopment and social instability. Recycling these 'garbage' can provide them with certain employment opportunities and sources of income, alleviating their living difficulties.

According to a survey, there are nearly 100000 people engaged in the plastic waste recycling industry in Malaysia, most of whom are migrant workers from countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Their monthly income is approximately 1000-1500 Malaysian Ringgit (about 1600-2400 RMB), which is much higher than their income in their home country despite the hard work.

Due to inadequate laws and systems, some countries in Southeast Asia lack effective supervision and constraints on the import and recycling of these "garbage".

Some illegal businessmen and intermediaries use various means, such as forging documents, bribing officials, evading inspections, etc., to smuggle large amounts of "garbage" into these countries, and then dump, bury or illegally process it to make huge profits, without considering the harm to the environment and people.

Why can these 'garbage' still be exported globally

You may also wonder, since these 'garbage' pose so much harm to the environment and humanity, why can they still be exported globally? Although most of these 'garbage' are low-quality, mixed, or polluted, there is also a portion that is high-quality, singular, or clean and can be easily processed into usable raw materials.

These raw materials are a scarce resource for some countries and regions because their own raw material supply is insufficient, or their raw material prices are too high, or their raw material quality is poor. Therefore, they need to import these raw materials from external sources to meet their production needs, improve their product quality, or reduce their production costs.

Although the cross-border transfer and disposal of these "wastes" are subject to international rules such as the Basel Convention, these rules are not perfect and are not easy to enforce. Some developed countries have taken measures to circumvent these rules, such as renaming "garbage" as "second-hand goods" or "recyclables", or exporting these "garbage" to other countries through transit countries or regions, or through informal channels.

Some developing countries, in order to obtain economic benefits from these "garbage", have intentionally or unintentionally relaxed their regulation and inspection of these "garbage", or colluded with some unscrupulous businessmen, condoning or tacitly allowing the illegal import and processing of these "garbage".

epilogue

We cannot generalize or simply attribute it to any country or industry. We need to deeply understand and analyze this issue from multiple perspectives and levels, find reasonable and feasible solutions, and achieve global green development and circular economy.

This is a process that requires the joint participation and efforts of countries around the world, and it is also a cause that requires the attention and contribution of each and every one of us. Let's start from the small things around us, reduce the use and waste of plastic, improve plastic recycling and utilization, and take on our responsibilities and responsibilities to protect our common earth.

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大件垃圾自动化破碎分选处理系统

Large garbage automatic crushing and sorting system

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