How Much is Western Garbage Contributing to China’s Pollution?

It’s no secret that China is home to some of the worst air quality and biggest rubbish heaps in the world, but is China the only one to blame? An article in UK’s The Sun recently reported the vast amounts of British waste found in Chinese garbage dumps – plastic Tesco bags, UK cigarette lighters and plastic bottles, among other trash. In fact, roughly 3 million tons of UK rubbish end up in China- because it’s cheaper to dump waste there than in British landfill sites. Cargo costs back to China are minuscule since they return in near empty container ships. China Greenpeace Spokesman explains:

China has become a big dumping ground for rubbish from Britain and other countries. A lot of the waste is toxic and sorted by migrant workers who are not protected from its effects.

Many of these migrant workers flock to the region’s garbage “mountains” with hopes of making money as a rubbish dealer – a mere 6,000 RMB a year (about $875 USD). Workers are paid a little more than a dollar per each kilogram of plastic they manage to recycle, yet there is more money to be made from the quality stuff thrown away such as electrical parts and adapters.

So how does this affect the air quality? Many cities in the Pearl River Delta, such as Xing Tan, are lined with cottage industry factories that constantly bellow thick fumes of smoke from melting the recycled plastic. Experts believe sites such as Xing Tan heavily contribute to Beijing’s increasingly poor air quality as winds blow the toxins north some 1,000 miles to the nation’s capital.

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