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Plastic Waste and a Circular Economy in China
Summary
This review examines China's plastic waste management challenges and the country's progress toward implementing circular economy principles for plastic recovery and recycling. As one of the world's largest plastic producers and consumers, China's plastic waste policies have major global implications for the amount of plastic that ultimately becomes microplastics.
Plastic has made life easier by providing affordable products, but the durability of plastic poses significant challenges for waste management and is a serious threat to the environment. The production volume of plastic is predicted to increase, and this calls for efficient measures to treat plastic waste. The situation is stringent in China, whose economy has grown during the past decades; this has led to challenges in waste management as a whole. The current plastic waste management in China is heavily relying on waste disposal through the use of landfills and incineration. After becoming aware of the problems related to plastic waste, the Chinese government has issued several policies to reduce plastic waste generation, improve the collection, and increase the recycling of it. This chapter reviews the transition of plastic waste management towards plastic recycling in the context of China, from technological, regulative, and environmental perspectives. To reduce the environmental harm of plastic and accomplish a circular and sustainable plastic system, increased circularity, the smarter use of plastic, and the use of renewable materials will be the needed pathways in the future.