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BY DA EUN JUNG Every year, a total of 2.12 billion tons of waste is produced globally. This is enough to fill tens of thousands of trucks; if these trucks were lined up, they would circle around the globe two dozen times. The amount of waste we produce — not just plastic, but of everything not recycled or recyclable — is astronomical and directly contributes to climate change. Even though we might never see our trash after we throw it out, 2.12 billion tons worth of waste has to end up somewhere. For decades, this “somewhere” was China. It was the trash dumping ground for high-income countries until it finally shut its borders to waste in 2018.
Now, these high-income countries are sending their waste to Southeast Asia. But these countries also don't want their junk, making these shipments illegal. Not only does this destroy these countries’ environments and damage their people’s health, but this action also makes it clear that not all countries are viewed as equal in the eyes of high-income countries. China’s policy that triggered it all In January 2018, China implemented the “National Sword” policy. This effectively banned the import of recyclable objects like plastic to address the overwhelming amount of contaminated and non-processable materials that flowed into the Spring 2020 / Perennial
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