In 2018, China suddenly stopped importing recyclables from the West, admitting that this was «dirty, dangerous and bad for the ecology». The waste has then been massively redirected to the countries of Southeast Asia. Quickly overtaken by pollution, they also started to close their doors.

For the United States, the largest producer of waste in the world, this decision was a cataclysm. As there is no national guidelines imposing a recycling system to the states or the cities, the country is  very contrasted about the ecological management. While San Francisco and its giant composter is a example of progress, in the rest of the country, the structures managing waste remains rare and expensive. As the cost of recycling programs has tripled last year, the majority of companies choose now to send the recyclable materials, previously sorted by the citizens, to landfill or incineration.

This event highlights a reality, supported by the environmental organizations : recycling is not a solution. Humanity has no other choice but to reduce its consumption of plastics. Also new services like Loop are is currently convincing multinationals to use the system of deposit, in order to stop the disposable packaging system.