Waste import ban designed to safeguard health

To foster cleaner growth, China will refuse to accept 24 types of material for recycling, as Zheng Jinran reports from Beijing, with Angus McNeice in London and Aaron Hagstrom in New York.

China's ban on the importation of several types of solid waste is likely to come into force in March. The move has proved controversial, though, as China is a major market for global recyclables, and some exporting countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, say it will cause a certain degree of turmoil.

The planned ban has already affected a number of companies in China, forcing them to close or suspend production, but experts claim it is urgently needed to protect the environment and public health, and will lead to an upgrade of the recycling sector.