International Waste Trade: a particular focus on the impact of the Chinese Import Ban on the US plastic wastes exports.

The objective of this master thesis is to give a comprehensive insight of the international trade of wastes and to explain the impact of the recent changes imposed by China on the US plastic wastes exports. While some wastes can be usefully traded, such as metal wastes that have high recyclability properties, others, such as plastics, can have severe consequences on the environment and on human health as they are rarely fully recyclable and hence cause air, land and water pollution during the disposal process. Countries have however been trading all kind of wastes at an increasing pace since the 90s, with a disproportionate share of this flow being directed from developed to developing countries, often lacking the adequate infrastructure so safely recycle or dispose of these wastes flows. Countries with lower environmental regulations are indeed expected to import a higher proportion of wastes than others as it lowers the cost of disposal, raising questions on the fairness of such a trade given the underlying transfer of negative externalities from rich to poor countries. However, in the recent years, import restrictions on plastic wastes imposed by China, the all-time biggest importer of wastes, have heavily disrupted this once profitable industry. Exporting countries, which have deeply relied on China to handle their wastes since the 90s, now have to find alternatives to dispose of their increasing pile of plastic wastes given that no countries are willing to accept it anymore. The plastic import ban imposed by China in 2018 as well as the introduction of plastic wastes under the scope of the Basel Convention in 2019 therefore mark a turning point in the plastic wastes trade by putting producing countries accountable for their own wastes, giving hope for a transition to a more sustainable and plastic-free society.