Documentary 'Plastic Kingdom' exposes imported pollution   

多國廢舊塑料進口至中國粗放處理 致河流重度污染

A documentary by local film maker Wang Jiuliang shows how waste plastics from across the globe are transported to China and recycled. (Photo by Wang Jiuliang)

(ECNS) - China is paying a high environmental price as a destination for the world's waste plastics.

"Plastics Kingdom," a documentary by local film maker Wang Jiuliang, traces how waste plastics from across the globe are transported to China and recycled, causing serious pollution in many parts of the country.

Wang spent three years on the film, visiting plastic recycling centers around China to gain a deeper understanding of the industry.

He achieved fame three years ago for Beijing Besieged by Waste, another documentary about waste disposal and pollution around the capital city. His new work, to be completed next year, will be about 90 minutes in length.

The country has more than a dozen large scale recycling centers specializing in handling foreign waste plastics, located in provinces including Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian and Tianjin municipality.

According to custom statistics, from 2011 to 2013, China imported more than 8 million tons of waste plastics, but Wang said the actual amount is far greater than data suggest.

His documentary outlines the recycling process whereby sorted materials are ground down, a process requiring large amounts of water, before prilling, during which plastics are dissolved and stretched into slim strips. These strips are subsequently used in the manufacturing of new products.

The sorting process is very harmful to those workers involved. Besides the bad smell, many wastes contain dangerous materials and as the workers cannot read foreign languages alerting them to this danger, they can easily be exposed to poisonous and corrosive elements.

The use of water in the recycling process also causes serious local pollution. In many cases, waste water is discharged into rivers without any treatment, making both surface water and underground water unusable and even harmful.

Burning waste plastics produces large amounts of exhaust gas and heavily pollutes the air while in many locations with plastic recycling centers cancer is common.