Since the implementation of a policy restricting waste imports into China, the U.S. sent 157,000 shipping containers filled with plastic waste to other destinations around the world in 2018 alone.

Once a repository for much of the world’s plastic waste, China declared at the end of 2017 that it would no longer recycle the world’s plastic, citing a desire to reduce domestic pollution. However, according to data from Jan Dell, an independent engineer, and published by the Plastic Pollution Coalition, countries like the U.S., who once sent the majority of its plastic waste to China, reportedly shipped 78% of its 2018 plastic waste exports to countries with waste mismanagement rates over 5%.

“Since exporting plastic waste is a convenient way for the United States and other industrialized countries to count plastic waste as ‘recycled’ and avoid disposal costs and impacts at home, there has been a significant increase of plastic waste shipments to other countries instead of China,” said Dell in a statement. “Unfortunately, most of our plastic waste is still shipped to countries that are not equipped to safely and securely manage it.”

As most corners of the world grapple with the issue of plastic pollution, headway is being made in terms of attempts to find suitable alternatives to the single-use plastics partly responsible for the accumulation of plastic waste. Researchers from the University of Nottingham have been working on a biodegradable and edible food packaging alternative to traditional plastic packaging, while a company in Mexico has created single-use plastic products such as disposable cutlery and straws from avocado pits.