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Since the 80s of the last century, the foreign garbage of the western developed countries has been continuously exported to the mainland, and these waste materials in the eyes of others have become the "treasures" that some people on the mainland rely on for survival.
The so-called "foreign garbage" is solid waste imported from abroad to China, and after processing, useful substances can be recovered from it. But after the mainland refused to accept "foreign garbage", Western countries collapsed.
Why did the mainland import foreign garbage in the first place, and why is it banning it now?
In the early days of reform and opening up, the mainland's industrial base was still relatively weak, and there was a shortage of raw materials needed for industrial development, such as plastics, metals, and paper.
Relatively speaking, extracting from foreign garbage and recycling waste is undoubtedly a way with lower cost and greater benefits.
As a result, a very unique industry has gradually formed on the mainland, which specializes in the treatment of foreign garbage.
In the past 20 years, the amount of foreign garbage imported by the mainland has soared from 4 million to 4.5 million tons per year to 48 million tons, accounting for about 45% of the world's foreign garbage exports.
The mainland alone imports 70% of the world's plastic waste.
With China as a big buyer, the developed countries in the West are very happy, and if this waste is disposed of in their own countries, it will cost a huge amount of money and will have a negative impact on the environment.
Nowadays, when exporting to China, you can dispose of garbage without any worries, and you can also make a lot of money, which is both worry-free and labor-saving.
For China at that time, there was almost no reason to refuse this garbage.
Not only are there a lot of discarded electronic devices, but there are also a lot of valuable metals like gold, aluminum, and tin, and the prices are very cheap.
At that time, people were really poor, with this garbage, work hard for a year or two, and the whole family can live a good life!
As a result, in some places, a foreign garbage recycling and processing industry has even been formed in villages and towns, such as Guiyu Town, Shantou, Guangdong, where more than 4/5 of households and residents participate in the sorting and smelting of foreign garbage.
In 2010, the output value reached 5 billion yuan, and the annual processing of foreign garbage was as high as more than 2.2 million tons, known as the "first town of electronic waste", and people really became rich through this industry.
However, what is worrying and worrying has happened, e-waste contains a large amount of heavy metals such as copper, lead, mercury, chromium, and other toxic substances, and if it is treated in an extensive way, it will inevitably pollute the local air, soil, and water sources.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Guiyu Town was shrouded in unpleasant smells all year round, and the original clear rivers, wells, and water were all black.
Although almost everyone over the age of 30 in the entire town is millionaire, the shadow of disease is beginning to loom here, with high rates of cancer, hundreds of cases of heavy metal poisoning in children every year, respiratory diseases, skin diseases, and excessive blood lead levels becoming common.
There are hundreds of examples like Guiyu Town in the country, where foreign garbage is too harmful to the environment and directly threatens people's health.
What's even more terrifying is that some medical waste is smuggled into the mainland, and no one knows what exactly is in this garbage, and there is a lack of strict procedures for the disposal of this garbage, and it will even become a child's toy.
"Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", and economic development can no longer be exchanged for the sacrifice of the environment.
Since 2017, the mainland has introduced relevant policies to reduce the amount of foreign garbage imported year by year, and since January 1, 2021, the import of foreign garbage has been completely banned.
Under the demonstration effect of China, many developing countries in the world have begun to ban the import of foreign garbage, and many countries in Southeast Asia, Africa and South America have introduced relevant measures.
The ban put many foreign garbage exporting countries in a difficult situation, and the United States soon encountered the problem of "garbage siege", which had to temporarily transport garbage to the border or incinerate.
On the other hand, they have started to explore new markets for waste recycling, improve waste processing facilities, and carry out environmental awareness campaigns to raise public awareness to reduce pollution.
However, Americans did not have the habit of sorting garbage and disposing of garbage properly, and the government had to spend a lot of money on advertising to promote it, and even then it had little effect, and the garbage in some public places increased significantly.
Japan is also in trouble, accumulating 500,000 tons of plastic waste in a year that cannot be disposed of, and the Japanese government has set aside billions of yen as subsidies to encourage domestic recycling companies to increase their waste disposal capacity.
The UK does not have a good means of disposing of garbage, so it has to incinerate as much as possible, but this can only deal with about half of the garbage, and there is no better way to dispose of the rest.
In response to China's ban, U.S. officials blamed China's actions for seriously disrupting the global supply chain of waste materials and appeared to be violating its WTO obligations, demanding that China immediately stop the relevant measures.
In this regard, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China clearly responded that it is China's right to prohibit foreign garbage from entering the country in accordance with the law, and advised the US side to dispose of its own garbage and shoulder its due responsibilities and obligations for the world.
It is clear that the United States wants to shift the blame for its own domestic garbage piles to China, and it wants to continue to export garbage to China.
The only thing that has not been seriously considered is why the United States has not established an efficient and environmentally friendly waste disposal system after so many years.
If you can throw it into someone else's house, then your own home will be clean, why bother preparing brooms and rags, now other people's homes are not allowed to litter, then it is all someone else's fault, this is the logic of the United States.
The mainland is also a big garbage producer, after all, the population is large, and the garbage produced is more, but the mainland from top to bottom, it has taken decades to establish a complete garbage transit, transportation, classification and treatment and a series of related industrial chains, which can basically meet the current garbage treatment work.
In terms of garbage disposal, the mainland actively seeks environmental protection solutions, and has built treatment facilities in many places across the country that use efficient waste incineration to generate electricity, and in recent years, it has put forward the goal of "zero landfill of domestic waste", and the harmless treatment of garbage has been widely used.
In the process of saying no to foreign garbage, some people at home and abroad still do not realize the mainland's firm determination and take reckless steps to carry out smuggling activities of foreign garbage.
It is now the seventh year since China announced that it will no longer import foreign garbage, and some Western countries have had to adapt to the reality that they produce and cannot handle it well.
Foreign garbage will eventually disappear completely in China, and the mainland does not mind introducing and promoting its successful experience to foreign countries in the garbage disposal problem that is difficult to solve, but it is necessary to learn from it, and the developed countries in the West should recognize their own position.
Resources:
[1] Observer.com: "US Media: China Refuses to Accept "Foreign Garbage" for Two Years, Global Waste Disposal Methods Change Dramatically"
[2] Reference message: "Sharp Reference | After China took the lead in doing this, the West complained again and again》
[3] People's Daily Online: "Why Should China Say No to "Foreign Garbage"?"
[4] CCTV News: "Say No to "Foreign Garbage": China Will Completely Ban the Import of Solid Waste from New Year's Day in 2021"
[5] Jiemian News: "Confusion and Transformation: Can the "First Town of E-Waste Dismantling" under the Ban Live on Foreign Garbage?