Managing a mounting plastic problem

A RedPlast volunteers sifts through collected plastic waste in Douala, Cameroon on August 28, 2018. Thomson Reuters Foundation / Inna Lazareva

THE documentary film Plastic China, released in late 2016, was such an inconvenient truth for the government of China that it prompted the enactment of the National Sword Policy, which bans the import of certain types of solid waste and sets strict contamination limits on recyclable materials coming into the country. The policy was announced in July 2017 and the ban officially began on Jan 1 this year. China also reduced the number of import licences, meaning that fewer businesses would be able to import waste.

The film told the story of an 11-year-old girl and her family who earned their living by scavenging for recyclable wastes in a landfill. At one point, the girl was taught to light a fire and burn plastic materials to identify their “recycling grade”. These practices were life-threatening to many families like hers but they had no choice.