The turning-point can be dated precisely to January 1, 2018. From that day on, China, followed by other south-east Asian countries, implemented a ban on plastic waste imports. This put an end to what had been an easy solution for a massive source of waste in western countries. Five years on, new data is bringing to light a lack of an industrial infrastructure for plastics recycling in the global North. New views on circularity are also throwing up questions as to how this form of waste should best be dealt with.

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