That article's misleading, probably out of ignorance of the author since it looks like an indie page. Up until 2018 China was importing about 45% of the world's trash plastic for recycling. [1] The world's waste is not well tracked, with a lot of opaque shifting about going on, but the paper makes some effort to estimate exports/imports.
The top trash plastics exporters (excluding Hong Kong, which imports and then exports a massive amount back to mainland China) over the time period studied (1988-2016) are: USA 26.7 million tons, Japan 22.2, Germany 17.6, Mexico 10.5, UK 9.26, Netherlands 7.71, France 7.55, Belgium 6.41, Canada 3.89. China imported a total of 106 million tons. It's estimated that the Chinese ban will see some 111 million tons of displaced plastics by 2030.
It's definitely just another example of developed countries exporting their problems to developing countries, and then looking the other way.
The top trash plastics exporters (excluding Hong Kong, which imports and then exports a massive amount back to mainland China) over the time period studied (1988-2016) are: USA 26.7 million tons, Japan 22.2, Germany 17.6, Mexico 10.5, UK 9.26, Netherlands 7.71, France 7.55, Belgium 6.41, Canada 3.89. China imported a total of 106 million tons. It's estimated that the Chinese ban will see some 111 million tons of displaced plastics by 2030.
It's definitely just another example of developed countries exporting their problems to developing countries, and then looking the other way.
[1] - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aat0131