Mexico imported about 660,000 tons of plastic waste between 2015 and 2021, most of it from the US. Although it is a legitimate business, environmentalists criticize irregularities in how the plastic waste is controlled.
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00:00We dump so much plastic out into nature
00:02that some images of rivers and seas
00:04look like something out of an apocalyptic film.
00:07The accumulation of waste is so great
00:09that there are even islands forming.
00:11The producers of this waste
00:12are not just local residents and companies.
00:15Did you know that regions like Latin America
00:17import tons of plastic waste from rich countries?
00:20Let's head to Mexico,
00:22the second biggest generator of plastic waste
00:24in the region after Brazil.
00:26In 2023, Mexico received more than 154,000 tons
00:31from the United States,
00:32followed far behind by El Salvador
00:34with more than 5,000 tons.
00:37Various environmental NGOs say the region
00:40has become a quote, dumping ground for richer countries,
00:44particularly the United States because of its proximity.
00:47In this episode of Transforming Business,
00:49we look at the business behind plastic waste imports
00:52and what companies in Mexico and beyond
00:54are doing to reduce their plastic footprint.
00:58Like with all business, even if you're just selling garbage,
01:01the most important thing is that it's profitable.
01:03In the United States, for example,
01:04it's much more expensive to process plastic domestically
01:08than it is to send it to Mexico,
01:09process it and re-import it.
01:11Companies linked to multinationals like Coca-Cola
01:13have been singled out in investigations,
01:15such as the one carried out
01:17by Peruvian digital media outlet,
01:19Ojo Público or Public Eye.
01:21But we'll come back to that later.
01:22One reason to import plastic waste
01:24is to sell it or use it once it's processed
01:27as a raw material in the destination country.
01:30There are various types of plastics
01:32that are generally suitable for recycling,
01:35the most common being polyethylene terephthalate or PET,
01:39which is usually used to make water or soda bottles.
01:42Recycled plastic can be used to make textiles,
01:45packaging, wrapping, bottle caps or even toys.
01:48And it's a business that remains largely
01:50in the hands of private companies.
01:53So, if it's legal, then what's the problem?
02:01We spoke with members of Colectiva Malditos Plásticos,
02:04a group of Mexican environmental organizations
02:06that compiles official data.
02:08They say there's a lot of secrecy around the business.
02:23In the US, the organization's Basel Action Network
02:26and the Last Beach Cleanup had access to data
02:29from collection centers in California,
02:31the state that exports most plastic waste to Mexico.
02:34Their conclusion was equally disappointing.
02:37We're not capable of making a single bale,
02:40which did not fail the test of Basel's control system.
02:45Jim Puckett advocates for environmental
02:47and social responsibility in international trade.
02:50Most of the plastic that comes into Mexico is not recycled.
02:55So, they're only cherry picking the very best
02:58and dumping or burning the rest.
03:01In 2019, the Basel Convention on the Control
03:04of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal,
03:06of which Mexico is a party, was amended to say
03:09that if plastic is difficult to recycle or contaminated,
03:13the receiving country must be notified
03:15and its entry approved.
03:20Matias Roja is a data analyst at the Global Alliance
03:23for Incinerator Alternatives, or GAIA,
03:26a network of organizations based all over the world.
03:51Not only that, there are also allegations
03:53that more plastic is being exported
03:55than companies actually report.
03:58Most of the waste that is not recycled
04:00ends up in the environment,
04:01either in landfills or incinerated,
04:04mainly in cement plants.
04:06But the Basel Convention on the Control of Hazardous Waste
04:08and Their Disposal,
04:09a network of organizations based all over the world,
04:12has been amended to say that if plastic is difficult to recycle,
04:16the receiving country must be notified
04:18and its entry approved.
04:19In 2019, the Basel Convention on the Control of Hazardous Waste
04:23and Their Disposal,
04:24a network of organizations based all over the world,
04:27On this map, we see the incinerators
04:29that are registered countrywide.
04:31Malditos Plásticos collected the data
04:34from government sources.
04:35They tell us that the surrounding communities
04:37have suffered for years from the consequences
04:40of these and other industries.
04:41They even call this part a zone of sacrifice.
04:56damage to health, such as cancer, fertility problems, and other disorders.
05:02Investigative journalists from Ojo Público and PopLab have linked some
05:07Mexican recycling imports to soft drinks company Coca-Cola, which is just one of
05:12the transnational companies that collaborates and invests in the
05:15recycling business. Mexico is a particularly valuable market. Mexicans
05:21consume more Coca-Cola on average than Americans at around 160 liters per
05:26person per year. According to the outlets, the major importers of plastic waste,
05:31with Mexican recycling company Petstar leading the way, have brought almost 73,000
05:37tons to Mexico since 2012 from the United States and China. This plastic
05:43must return to its country of origin as processed material. Coca-Cola saves the
05:49high cleaning costs for which large amounts of water are needed, and there
05:52are other benefits. They're taking advantage of a weaker economy. Of course
05:58the labor is going to be cheaper in Mexico, but what comes with cheap labor
06:02is a country without enough economic prowess to actually properly enforce
06:11their own environmental laws. According to a study published in the journal
06:15Science Advances in 2024, 60 multinational companies are responsible
06:20for more than half of the world's plastic pollution. A quarter of that
06:25pollution comes from six companies. Coca-Cola contributes 11%, followed by
06:29its competitors Pepsi and Nestle. As part of its campaign World Without Waste,
06:34Coca-Cola pledged to recycle the equivalent of 100% of its packaging by
06:392023.
07:04We tried unsuccessfully to contact both Coca-Cola and Petstar for an
07:09interview to learn more about their sustainability policies at these plants.
07:13As we mentioned at the beginning, Mexico is the Latin American country with the
07:17second largest amount of overall plastic waste after Brazil. We're talking 5.7
07:23million tons annually. With so much plastic within its borders, why is there
07:28also an import market?
07:40Alethea Vazquez is a professor and researcher and is referring to the
07:43bottles made of PET plastic, the easiest plastic to recycle.
08:09What are those markets? Well, mainly China. Trade in plastic waste has grown
08:25significantly since 1993. By 2016, global imports had risen by 723% and exports by
08:33817%. In 2016, China imported more than half of the 14.1 million total
08:40immetric tons of plastic waste for recycling from 43 different countries.
08:45Demand in China was only growing, mostly for resin to produce everything from
08:51bottles to pipes. But in 2018, the country practically banned the business after
08:56complaints very similar to those registered in Mexico today, that much of
09:00the plastic was contaminated and poorly sorted, ending up instead in landfills.
09:05Since then, exports of plastic waste have found new markets, like Latin America.
09:11We're focusing on the market in the United States and Mexico, but the fact
09:15is that this is a global business that also spans other regions. These are the
09:21five countries that export the most plastic waste worldwide in tons per year.
09:26Germany leads the way with more than 688,000 tons, followed by Japan and the
09:31United Kingdom with just over 600,000 tons. The Netherlands and the U.S. are in
09:36fourth and fifth place, respectively. Considering the enormous amounts of
09:40plastic consumed globally, are companies shifting towards a sustainable
09:45production?
10:06Rodrigo Vargas is technical director of Greentank, a Mexican consulting firm
10:10specializing in circular economies and climate change. Greentank uses a digital
10:15tool called BeGreen, developed together with Chilean company BOK. The tool
10:19measures the plastic footprint of products. With this data, a plan of
10:23possible solutions is then developed. Not only does it help reduce the plastic
10:27footprint of companies, but also their carbon footprint.
10:41BeGreen comes from a pilot project called Carib Circular, in which more than 20
10:45companies from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic
10:49participated. The main sectors involved were those relating to food and
10:54beverage production, agriculture, livestock, and the environment.
10:59The project was launched in 2017, and the company is currently in the
11:03process of developing a new product called Carib Circular, which is a
11:08Agriculture, livestock and aquaculture. Essential to society, but major
11:13emitters of CO2 and producers of plastic waste. Greentank has had clients
11:18including multinational bakery Grupo Bimbo and beauty and personal care
11:22products manufacturer Natura. We asked them what mistakes companies tend to
11:28make when trying to reduce their plastic footprint.
11:37Plastic is a useful and practical material. The problem is waste
12:00management, especially when it comes to single use products. Most plastic
12:05objects never completely disappear. Incineration of plastic is toxic and to
12:10recycle it is expensive and limited. Less than 10% of the world's plastic
12:14actually gets recycled. For decades, the richest nations have sold their
12:19plastic waste so that it can be converted into a raw material. But many
12:22of the countries where this waste arrives do not have the infrastructure
12:26or regulatory mechanisms in place to ensure that this industry does not have
12:30an impact on the environment and local communities. What do you think about
12:35this industry and what is the best way to reduce plastic pollution? Let us
12:39know in the comments.