In the two months from 1 November to 31 December 2015, the Chinese environmental ministry is conducting targeted additional investigations into imports of plastics scraps all across the country. The efforts are aimed at ensuring the implementation of the tightened regulations that were imposed in this field in the last few years, reports the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR, Brussels / Belgium; www.bir.org).

The offices of China’s Environmental Protection Bureau (EPB), which are spread over all the country's provinces, have been asked to carry out random tests at recycling companies. Aside from checking whether all environmental laws are upheld, these efforts are also aimed at examining the quality of both the plastics scraps and the resulting recyclate. The authorities are focusing their investigation on the illegal direct sale of imported plastics scraps in China, where imports are only cleared for a company’s own use, as well as the processing technologies (in terms of quality and emissions) and the import of illegal plastics scraps (banned, environmentally harmful or technically subpar materials).