Dramatic fall in China’s plastic scrap imports

China – Chinese manufacturers consumed some 13.6 million tonnes of plastic scrap in 2013 – a drop of 14.5% when compared to the 16 million tonnes of the previous year, according to media reports quoting Jason Wang, general secretary of China Scrap Plastics Association.

A period of rapid growth for plastics recycling in China peaked in 2010 with a consumption increase of 25% over the previous year, Wang noted.

Without specifically mentioning China’s Operation Green Fence import quality control regime, Wang says the volume of plastic scrap entering China last year dropped almost as dramatically as consumption, with 7.9 million tonnes imported versus around 8.8 million tonnes in the previous year for a decline of 11%.