China bans imports of some scrap materials

The manufacturing giant China has a big impact on world trade. The country is a major exporter and importer of goods. Its buying trends have an impact on the prices of commodities including the trading of scrap materials. Remember the 2008 Olympics which China hosted? Because of the construction of sports facilities, there was a big demand for raw materials.

During the construction frenzy for the Beijing Olympics, China went on a buying spree for scrap metals. As a result, prices skyrocketed. It came to a point that even metal fences are being stolen and sold. Worst, the railings of Abacan bridge in Angeles City were pilfered too. Even rich countries like the U.K. experienced theft of cables, manhole covers and other metals due to the all-time high prices of scrap metals.

Now we will be seeing the opposite. Last July 2017, China notified the World Trade Organization that it will ban imports of 24 cat egor i es of recyclables and solid waste by the end of the year. This campaign against yang laji,or foreign garbage”, applies to plastic, textiles and mixed paper. China said that it will source materials from its own domestic market.

The scrap plastic market will be the hardest hit. Since the 1980s China has become the world’s largest importer of waste. In 2012, up to 56% of global exported plastic waste ended up in China. Imported plastic waste alone reached a peak of almost 9 million tons in 2012.

What will be the impact of this to the local recycling industry? First, I expect a drop in the prices of scrap materials which China will no longer import. The ripple effect will surely reach the lowly junkshops and “bote-dyaro” pushcart buyers. This will mean lesser income and possibly losses if they have stocks which they bought at higher prices.

Second, it is possible that certain scraps will no longer be bought by junkshops. There are certain types of plastics that are not recycled here in the Philippines so everything that is collected is exported. This will be a big blow to the government’s solid waste management program. The unsold and uncollected scraps will add up to the waste being sent to landfill.

In other countries, scrap is starting to accumulate because it has no place go. I read a news report in the internet that huge mountains of old newspapers, cardboard and office scrap paper are piling up on Hong Kong’s docks and its waste-paper collection sites are at bursting point. The report also said that a flotilla of cargo ships laden with paper meant for recycling has been stuck for weeks in local waters. As a result of low demand. It is now a buyers’market for the banned scrap materials. This is also a good opportunity for potential investors to put up recycling facilities.

So how will the world react to this? There will be a race now to find another market in the short term. For the long term, there might be regulations to enforce the use of scrap to replace a portion of the virgin materials. There might even be a ban the use of plastic bottles all together.

IS the order of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to close Rappler News, for alleged violation of the law on 100 percent Filipino ownership of mass media only a coverup of the administration’s true intention? It’s no secret that Rappler is considered hostile to the administration, particularly on the issue of extrajudicial killings in President Duterte’s tough drive against illegal drugs.

During his State of the Nation Address last year, President Duterte identified Rappler as American-owned. He even mentioned ABS-CBN but not in detail.

This administration’s intention to close Rappler has a chilling effect on freedom of the press and could only be the beginning of more to come. SEC already forwarded its ruling to the Department of Justice. This simply suggests