Malaysia will stop accepting U.S. plastic waste, creating a dilemma for California

Malaysia is closing its doors to U.S. plastic waste—and California, one of the top exporters, will feel the shift. Starting July 1, the country will block imports from nations that haven’t signed the Basel Convention, an international treaty on waste. The U.S. never ratified it. That leaves millions of pounds of plastic with nowhere to go, freezing a global pipeline already under scrutiny. Critics say it’s a long-overdue move to end a system that often burdens poorer nations with rich countries’ trash. Susanne Rust with Los Angeles Times has the full story on a trend that started in China in 2017 and is now expanding.

Susanne Rust

Los Angeles Times

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