WM's Position on Plastic Exports

In 2013, China implemented Operation Green Fence, a strategic effort focused on inspections at its ports which restricted the flow of recyclables into the country. WM’s operations were affected, underscoring our dependence on China and the need to increasingly diversify our market options.

Shortly thereafter, we expanded our global presence and strengthened our domestic mill alliances for both paper and plastic. By the end of 2017, WM was marketing 63% of all its recyclables (paper and plastic) to domestic markets and exporting relatively small amounts of plastic outside of North America.

With the 2017 announcement of China’s new import restrictions banning imports of mixed plastic and mixed paper (National Sword), WM’s efforts to diversify its end markets were demonstrated to be prudent.

In 2018 media attention increased on the issue of plastic waste in the environment. The issue of marine debris began to draw heightened scrutiny on the use of plastics, and the end-of-life solutions for this material. Plastics are ubiquitous, and the use of plastics packaging has grown exponentially across the globe, yet end-of-life options for managing this material have proven inadequate. In fact, the very attributes that make plastic so useful also make it a problem at end-of-life. Plastics do not degrade and can remain in the environment (including in landfills) for decades. When plastic is not managed properly, it can end up in rivers and streams, and ultimately the ocean.

Although the U.S. is not a direct contributor to the problem of marine debris, shipments of recyclables to countries that have lacked the infrastructure to properly manage their waste may have contributed to the problem. With China’s ban on imports, plastic from across the globe began to move to a variety of countries that are not well equipped to handle the material, furthering the likelihood of more plastics entering rivers, waterways and oceans. One by one, these countries have begun to restrict the importation of scrap plastics for recycling as the volumes imported have exceeded their processing capacity.