CPIA announces availability of online reporting tool to record recycled plastics stranded by Chinese import ban

As China continues to implement a ban targeting 24 categories of imported low-grade recycling materials that contain "dirty wastes or even hazardous materials", concerns about shipments being rejected at entry ports are growing in Canada, potentially leaving recyclers and brokers with stranded tonnes.

The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) supports recyclers in their efforts to arrange long-term, secure markets for the plastics they recover for recycling. To that end, the organization has launched a confidential, online tool for recyclers and brokers to report on recovered plastics for which they have no market or that have been rejected by overseas markets.

Information Provided is Confidential 
According to the CPIA, the data provided will be aggregated to arrive at total tonnes that are currently stranded. All individual user data will be kept confidential and will not be revealed. The tool requests information about the plastic materials that your program (or your customers' programs) collect, focusing on plastic types that have been rejected or stranded and what is being done to manage these materials now. Where information is requested about total tonnages of stranded materials, estimates are acceptable to help CPIA understand the magnitude of the challenge. 

Users can update the data as needed to accurately reflect market situations as they change. Information gathered will inform discussions within the end-market industry about investment in new domestic (North American) markets or the potential for taking advantage of capacity that may open up in existing markets. CPIA is collaborating with partner organizations such as the Association of Plastic Recyclers, American Chemistry Council - Plastics Division and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries in the U.S. to discuss how to build options to Chinese import markets. 

Who Should Use the Tool? 
While CPIA developed the tool for Canadian recycling collectors and brokers, the organization says those in the US industry are also welcome to input data, since cross-border regional marketing is common.