Blog Post by Clara Cusanelli, Junior Associate

Reduce, reuse, recycle; a mantra repeated in the U.S. to comfort consumption-heavy lifestyles. If the items cannot be reduced, and they cannot be reused, all is well because they can be recycled in the end, right?

Countries in Asia are answering with a resounding “no”.

For decades, the U.S., along with other countries, have been sending much of its plastic “recycling” to Asian countries to process, as running a well-functioning recycling program is more labor intensive and expensive than Americans would care to operate.[1] This relationship began as a way for Asian countries to turn a profit by importing the U.S.’ recycling to manufacture into new plastics.[2] But when the imports became excessive as Americans used more and more plastic, some countries chose to ban them, leaving an even heavier burden on places still accepting the imports.[3] Malaysia is one such country feeling this strain.[4]

In 2018, China, Asia’s largest recycling importer at the time, ceased 99% of its plastic imports.[5] Malaysia learned just how much recycling China had been taking when it much of it began showing up at their ports.[6] While from a legal standpoint, Malaysia still has a say in how much recycling they accept, there is a strong network of illegal imports that fly under the radar and pollute Malaysia’s air, water, and soil.[7] Unlicensed operations in Malaysia import recycling, hire cheap labor, establish factories, and process the plastic in dangerous and toxic ways without adherence to environmental regulations.[8] Not everything that is illegally imported is turned over for manufacturing, leaving a good part of the plastic to rot or burn in illegal landfills, causing plumes of toxic smoke and contaminated groundwater linked to widespread illness.[9] The Malaysian government says enforcement attempts to stop illegal operations has been feeble.[10]

After sending back plastic involved in illegal imports to countries of origin in 2020, Malaysia banned all plastic imports from countries not party to the Basel Convention, which includes the U.S., stating, “[w]e do not want Malaysia to be the world’s rubbish bin”.[11] While the ban may keep Malaysia cleaner (besides the persistence of illegal activities), it likely seals the same fate for other countries still importing.

While Asian countries must develop stronger enforcement, it is up to Americans to prevent this toxic trade from continuing. One method is to develop more robust methods to handle plastic recycling domestically, but the most effective solution is to produce less plastic from the start.[12] Asia is sounding the alarm that recycling is not the idealized system Americans believe it to be. Until the U.S. and others confront this reality, countries around the world will continue to serve as unwilling landfills to garbage they did not create.

[1] Caleb Stipkovits, Shipping of waste to Southeast Asia: what REALLY happens to your recycling, Tʜᴇ Sᴏᴜᴛʜᴇʀɴᴇʀ (Nov. 23, 2019), https://www.shsoutherner.net/opinion/2019/11/23/shipping-of-waste-to-southeast-asia-what-really-happens-to-your-recycling/.

[2] Dominique Mosbergen, Here’s Why America Is Dumping Its Trash in Poorer Countries, Bʀᴇᴀᴋ Fʀᴇᴇ Fʀᴏᴍ Pʟᴀsᴛɪᴄ (Mar. 20, 2019), https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2019/03/20/heres-why-america-is-dumping-its-trash-in-poorer-countries/.

[3] Id. 

[4] Id. 

[5] Cheryl Katz, Piling Up: How China’s Ban on Importing Waste Has Stalled Global Recycling, Yᴀʟᴇ Eɴᴠ’ᴛ 360 (Mar. 7, 2019), https://e360.yale.edu/features/piling-up-how-chinas-ban-on-importing-waste-has-stalled-global-recycling.

[6] Here’s Why America Is Dumping Its Trash in Poorer Countries, supra note 2.

[7] Id. 

[8] Id. 

[9] Id. 

[10] Id. 

[11] Rob Picheta, Malaysia has sent back tons of plastic waste to rich countries, saying it won’t be their ‘garbage dump’, CNN Wᴏʀʟᴅ (Jan. 20, 2020), https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/20/asia/malaysia-plastic-waste-return-scli-intl; Susanne Rust, Malaysia no longer takes U.S. plastic waste, creating a dilemma for California, Lᴏs Aɴɢᴇʟᴇs Tɪᴍᴇs (June 26, 2025), https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-06-26/malaysia-bans-us-plastic-waste-what-will-california-do; EHN, Malaysia blocks plastic waste import from the U.S. as global resistance grows (July 3, 2025), https://www.ehn.org/malaysia-blocks-plastic-waste-imports-from-the-u-s-as-global-resistance-grows.

[12] Here’s Why America Is Dumping Its Trash in Poorer Countries, supra note 2.