For decades, China has been the world’s largest importer of “recycling resources” and many countries take it for granted. However, Beijing has decided to ban the import of 24 types of recyclable waste since January this year, which has caused countries to “disorder”. Now that the ban has been implemented for more than four months, the resource recovery exporters are still busy "seeking a way out."

According to Taiwan’s United News, which quoted CNBC’s report on May 4th, in response to these changes, the European Union considered taxing plastics. The United Kingdom sought to ship some “recyclable resources” to Southeast Asia, while the United States hoped that the mainland would cancel the ban. Experts believe that there is no one that can be implemented over the long term. Previously, most of the "recovery resources" of the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and Japan and other countries and regions were exported to mainland China.

According to the data from the China Customs, after the “foreign garbage” ban was on the road, the solid wastes such as plastics, waste paper, and metals imported from mainland China fell by 54% in the first quarter. At the same time, imports from Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand were “acceptable”. "Recycling resources" surged, but experts believe that these countries can not fill the gap left by China.

According to Greenpeace statistics, before the ban was issued in Beijing, more than half of the world's "recovery resources" were shipped to mainland China. At the peak of the year, China's annual waste plastics imports were close to 9 million tons.

Today, mainland China has leapt to the second largest economy in the world and is increasingly focusing on air and water pollution. Mainland China has closed tens of thousands of polluting factories, promoted the use of renewable energy, and issued large amounts of green bonds.

According to reports, however, there is still a long way to go in mainland China. In spite of this, in the eyes of environmental groups, the ban on the disposal of 24 kinds of waste in mainland China is still a major victory. This not only makes the ecological environment in China's mainland cleaner, but also forces countries to step up their own "recyclable resources."