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Plastic Planet

China, which had been processing about 40% of the world's plastic waste, has drastically limited the scale of imports. David Shukman looks at what this might mean for the planet.

At the start of the year China has sent shockwaves through the global recycling industry - it had been processing about 40% of the world's plastic waste but new rules have drastically limited the scale of imports. That's left countries from the US to Britain scrambling to find other solutions for handling millions of tonnes of plastic bottles and packaging. Our Science Editor, David Shukman, looks at what this might mean for our plastic planet.

15 minutes

Last on

Sun 11 Feb 201818:15GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 13 Jan 201807:15GMT
  • Sat 13 Jan 201811:15GMT
  • Sat 13 Jan 201822:15GMT
  • Sun 14 Jan 201801:15GMT
  • Sun 14 Jan 201808:15GMT
  • Sun 14 Jan 201810:15GMT
  • Sun 14 Jan 201812:15GMT
  • Sun 14 Jan 201818:15GMT
  • Sat 10 Feb 201807:15GMT
  • Sat 10 Feb 201811:15GMT
  • Sat 10 Feb 201822:15GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 201801:15GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 201808:15GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 201810:15GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 201812:15GMT
  • Sun 11 Feb 201818:15GMT