China produces about a third of plastic waste polluting the world’s oceans, says report
Comprehensive study reveals that of the 8m tonnes worldwide that pollute the sea every year up to 3.5m tonnes is from mainland cities
Plastic bottles, barrels, bags, toothbrushes and even syringes are piled high around rural villagers and migrant workers tasked with recycling it.
They sort, clean and break up the rubbish before putting the pieces into furnaces where they are melted and remoulded, eventually to be processed into small granules.
The scene is typical of many family-run plastic recycling mills clustered in rural areas of Hebei, Shandong and Jiangsu provinces, to name a few, according to independent documentary director Wang Jiuliang, who has been filming the business for several years.
Yet the tale shows just one side of China's huge plastic footprint. A study published this week in the journal said China was responsible for nearly 30 per cent of the plastic pollution clogging the world's oceans.
The environmental and health impacts of China's unregulated plastic recycling business were immense: the cleaning process pollutes waterways, melting and burning the scraps released toxic pollutants into the air, and leftover pieces unfit for recycling were dumped directly into riverbeds, Wang said.
His documentary, tells the story of how an 11-year-old girl almost became one such plastic recycler spending three years helping her parents - who wanted to make enough money from the business to send her to school, but failed.
