China’s ban on solid waste imports confirmed

China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment has confirmed that the country will be banning the import of solid waste from next year and will therefore no longer accept or approve import applications for solid waste, reports the Bureau of International Recycling based on information provided by local contacts. 

The information was provided during a recent press conference and is in line with the policies applied since 2017 to reduce the imports of foreign waste, says BIR. It adds: ‘A newly revised law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes is announced to come into force on 1 September, clarifying the legal requirements for the identification of attributes of imported goods suspected of solid wastes’.