The rest was buried in landfills or simply dumped and left to wash into rivers and . Almost certainly, a proportion will have come from the homes, or more specifically the recycling bins, of Australia. Parents were not penalized for having twins, at least not according to the letter of the law. 0000017207 00000 n Through my interviews with self-made entrepreneurs who live in the countryside or have rural origins, I came to the conclusion that, as a rule, these people did not enjoy any support from state authorities for changing their methods or upgrading their facilities in order to cause less pollution, and better protect workers. Because many prioritized having a son over a daughter, orphanages experienced a surge in baby girls who were abandoned or put up for adoption. 0000035786 00000 n In this rugged hardpan of north China known for poverty and coal, Zhang Yi had but two frail daughters to help scratch out a living. hide caption. What could the family planning officials have done to her? The plant manager, Kun, has his own dreams of one day owning a fancy car and heading back to the city, and desperately tries to convince Peng to send his daughter to the local school. Twenty years later, the volume of. Along the belt, human workers pick and channel what is valuable (bottles, cardboard, aluminium cans) into sorting chutes. Trailer for 'Plastic China' film by director Wang Jiuliang. The seventh child, a boy, Liu Zhuang drowned at the age of five, and his mother says she cries every. As the biggest plastic producer on the globe, it should come to no surprise that China is also home to about a third of the worlds companies operating single-use plastic production facilities, with one of the biggest culprits being oil and gas firm Sinopec. SCn ` ]-3 endstream endobj 44 0 obj <>>> endobj 45 0 obj <>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/Properties<>/XObject<>>>/Rotate 0/TrimBox[0.0 0.0 595.276 841.89]/Type/Page>> endobj 46 0 obj [47 0 R] endobj 47 0 obj <>/Border[0 0 0]/H/N/Rect[248.776 776.077 346.366 766.333]/Subtype/Link/Type/Annot>> endobj 48 0 obj <> endobj 49 0 obj <> endobj 50 0 obj <> endobj 51 0 obj <> endobj 52 0 obj <> endobj 53 0 obj <>stream Indeed, they cut across borders and sectors of economic activity. Plastic China 's portrait of a migrant worker and his family, and the factory's ambitious owner, is touching and saddening, and puts a human face on the problems caused by China's rush to. , where in 2019, it reportedly churned out about 5.3 million tonnes of plastics. Instead of numbing us with facts like how China has contaminated over 80 per cent of its fresh water through landfills and processing, he gets us to feel bad for Kun, Peng and their kids; if we identified with their plight, perhaps we wouldnt want to send so much trash for them to sort through. Garbage collectors called rag and bone men ply the alleys of the cities, pedaling . "Women have it all figured out now they won't have more kids even when they're told to have more!" 0000001781 00000 n And in May, after a new census showed the birth rate had slowed, China raised the cap to three children. We all must initiate a seismic cultural shift that sees a serious slowing down of our relentless consumerism. , resulting in mounting plastic packaging. In June 2020, directed remotely by their parents in Italy and a cousin in Canada, the four siblings - then aged between 11 and 16 - traveled from their remote village in Xinjiang all the way to. In the U.S. alone, some 26.7 million tons were sent out of the country between 1988 and. Officials in her village were actively policing families under the one-child policy. Directors Jiu-liang Wang Genres Documentary Subtitles English [CC] "The one-child policy was not the only thing that happened in China in the 1980s and 1990s," Gietel-Basten says. Since 2014, Chinas household registration system (hukou) is being eased with a view to, among other things, give migrants better access to healthcare and education. Much of the Western worlds waste was once bound for China. The film also resonated with the study of Chinas so-called informal recycling world that I conducted in the mid-2010s (Schulz 2018). Its river basin comprises one-fifth of the countrys land area, and supports and houses nearly one-third of the population. The people who had a stake in it did not welcome the shooting.. 0000001204 00000 n He was able to fly to the U.S. after weeks of tense negotiation. He rose to prominence a few years ago thanks to his first film, Beijing Besieged by Waste (laji weicheng, 2012), which revealed the existence of a great number of unauthorised and unmonitored dumpsites around Beijing. Its river basin comprises one-fifth of the countrys land area, and supports and houses nearly one-third of the population. Her dreams are daydreams, a way for her to escape the harsh reality she experiences on a daily basis. 0000001315 00000 n State media celebrated the news. The new documentary 'Plastic China' plunges into the dirty side of recycling. It's margarine tubs, clamshells, deli containers. This means that people eating fish have also been consuming plastics. Today, the world produces nearly 350 million tonnes of plastic waste, which is projected to double by 2040 if no action is taken. China used to take much of it, but has banned imports of plastic waste so where does it now go? In the film, Peng Wenyuanwho comes from Sichuan province, belongs to the Yi ethnic group, and is almost illiteratecomplains repeatedly about his salary. He currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at the China Centre, University of Oxford. In China, rural migrants are generally registered in their place of origin but spend most of their time living far away from their hometowns. He lived in comfort and was treated preferentially by the Wei court. Its actually incredible that the film, which calls into question the Chinese governments devotion to environmentalism and the welfare of its people, actually made it out of the country. Immediately afterwards, he embarked on a new project. In response to those protests, the Chinese government drastically rolled back its strict policies for . "All we can do is go on living," she says. 0000023031 00000 n That's up from 152 million ten years. The U.S., Japan and Germany are all at the top of the list when it comes to exporting their used plastic. Wang is a recognised authority on the topic of waste in China. Families of people who died after contracting coronavirus in China's former epicentre Wuhan say they are constantly monitored and warned by authorities, who tell them speaking out will damage . You might also like: Chinas Refusal to Take Back Food Containers Exposes Hong Kongs Broken Plastic Waste Management System. During the reform era, this has prevented them from enjoying key rights and public services in their place of residence. "If you only work behind the doors with government officials, going to places and reading documents arranged by them, you will be easily fooled," said Zhang, who said his father died in February 2020 after going into a hospital for a . However, the films relevance extends far beyond the issue of waste management. First of all his film tackles the problem of labour exploitation. China implemented the policy of limiting each family to one child in 1979 to slow the growth of the country's population. The legacy of China's one-child rule is still painfully felt by many of those who suffered for having more children. of plastic inputs in oceans while putting China at 7%. As a result of ocean plastic pollution, where plastics slowly break down into smaller debris and particles called microplastics, one study discovered that all 21 species of sea fish and freshwater fish from Chinese waters that were examined have ingested plastic. At some point, Wang Kun pushes for Yijie to attend a local kindergarten, even offering to cover the costs, yet Yijies father, Peng Wenyuan, refuses, preferring that she continue to sort plastics, do household chores, and take care of her younger siblings. The U.S. used to send a lot of its plastic waste to China to get recycled. While more time is needed to analyse the bans impacts domestically, it has had rippling effects across global plastic pollution and management. In connection with this, the film represents a reflection on the legal status and living conditions of Chinas floating population (liudong renkou). For instance, Gurao, once Chinas largest bra manufacturing hub, struggles with waste-related pollution of comparable gravity to that of neighbouring Guiyu, the countrys infamous e-waste recycling capital. Back in the 1960s, more than 100 children - mostly abandoned, mostly babies and mostly girls - were brought over from Hong Kong to be adopted by British families. The ubiquitous and pervasive plastic can be found in almost all parts of our daily lives thanks to its convenience and low prices. As a grownup in China, I share a responsibility of finding ways to make the country a better place to live., James Camerons attack on Netflix gets 2 major things wrong and one right, Missing is a worn out techno-thriller less exciting than a doomscroll, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes could be the reboot the franchise needs, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. Last October, Jian Feng, a man reportedly from northern China, sued and divorced his wife after she had a daughter who was "incredibly ugly" and did not resemble either parent. Director Jiu-liang Wang is one of the few documentary filmmakers in China to have taken on the government and won. He used a pickax to drive them off and was imprisoned for that for half a year. :v9s];"vE\ j{G=vs=_qq/w?/uynBRBViW)42xP.itM"2HX SJXr/^$,^J_gHIum1$OL@*R*06T4W*[>ypNA-y6J]yPW6VV Today, he lives in Maryland with his family. "I thought this is it if I do not have this child, my body will not be able to have any more.". Where Wang achieves sentimentality and awareness at displaying his subjects somber existence, he fails in giving his audience any objective information about the health, social, or environmental impacts of the Chinese recycling process. Some businesses have stepped up, too. Now they are stepping away from a plastics lobbying . It was shipping goods to Europe and the States and that enabled a cheap process of shipping the scrap back to China in the holds of the. China is also by far the largest source of mismanaged plastic waste, and is the biggest offender of ocean plastic pollution. 0000009529 00000 n Made in China publications are open access and always available as a free download. Today, the ongoing secrecy and censorship makes it impossible to know how many died that night. What is certain is that the film can serve as a justification for the outright ban on waste importsirrespective of whether Wang ever regarded a ban as the proper solution to the problems he documented in his film. 0000009053 00000 n When probed about why he doesnt send his kids to school, his reply is that he prefers to spend money on drinking, musing that his children can attend school for free whenever they return to his home village. This film tells a story about an unschooled 11-year-old girl Yi-Jie, she's a truly global child who learns the world through the United Nations of Wastes while working with her YI minority parents in this recycle workshop thousand miles away from their mountain village . Our current pattern of manufacture, consume, discard is creating a chain of exploitation; it exploits the workers making our products, it exploits us through merciless advertising; and it exploits millions of poverty-stricken laborers working for a pittance like Kun and Peng in Plastic China. Yet, towards the end of the film, the Wangs spend their entire savingsand even borrow moneyto purchase a vehicle for which they seem to have little practical need. They did not officially register the last two to avoid paying a fine, but the father says he still paid a bribe to family planning officials to avoid further harassment. Welcome to Wang Jiuliangs Plastic China, a quiet, intimate look into the lives of two Chinese families barely scraping a living by laboring at a small family run recycling plant. Boost this article This film debuted two years ago, but its relevance is striking in the wake of Chinas sudden refusal to continue importing foreign waste. There are two younger boys, Liu Zhuang, 5 and Liu Jian, 4, as well as newly born twin sisters. He and his wife persevered and had three sons. And so, ironically, now that people are allowed to have more children, they are increasingly reluctant to, because of the high cost of child care and education. 9 U4W6}-+c\y^xu^`88^iY :\`PrAiSvF5f19/L2Jh206X The detailed roadmap includes measures to phase out single-use plastics and targets for cutting plastic production, reduce plastic waste destined for landfills, and boost recycling efforts (with specific targets like 85% of agricultural plastic film to be recycled). 0000018669 00000 n Since its release, the film has become indissociable from the issue of waste exports, and it gained even more prominence after July 2017, when the Chinese government announced a wide-ranging ban on foreign waste (yang laji) (Liebman 2018). 0000019453 00000 n Her worries these days are more mundane. The news hit hard in the United States, which is home to about 60,000 children adopted from China, mostly girls. On July 16 that year, as Beijing was gearing up to hold the Summer Olympics, Zhang flagged the sudden increase of infant cases to his hospital's dean, who then reported them to the local health. This is regrettable, for two main reasons. In China recycling is done by the trash collectors who specialize in different kinds of refuse rubber, aluminum, tin, plastic, paper and either collect these materials by going house to house or sort through the garbage, selling what they find to traders. The . Years of rapid growth have made China appear prosperous, but pollution is having a huge impact on health while Chinas growth appears incredible, it is actually cheap and fragile. This also explains why Wang Kuns plastic recycling workshop, like many others, relies on manual labour and a couple of unsophisticated and antiquated machines. In China, plastic pollution is starkly evident . It was featured in numerous festivals outside China, and has won several awards. Interestingly, it does not look further into waste imports, as Wang had originally planned, but instead addresses construction and real estates impact on the surface of the earth, in particular through mineral extraction and the desolate landscapes it produces in China (Wang 2016). Several experts I engaged with in recent months put forward the idea that the film prompted officials in Beijing to take this kind of action, or at least influenced them significantly (see also L 2018). Twenty-something Kun is a hard worker with a dream of buying a new car to boost his social status. Welcome to Wang Jiuliang's Plastic China, a quiet, intimate look into the lives of two Chinese families barely scraping a living by laboring at a small family run recycling plant. But starting in 2005, the authorities began enforcing the policy with a renewed ferocity in Linyi. A familiar margarine packet among the mountains of rubbish in a backyard recycling facility on China. In this sense, Plastic China has arguably played a key role in the recent evolution of the trade in recyclable waste. Wang turned his focus to imported plastic, and after some digging, learned that it was being brought to a little town in the province of Shandong, along the coast. This change will not be easy, but it must be done. 0000002606 00000 n The whenever is ambiguous, as his 11-year-old daughter Yi Jie tells the camera that hes been promising to send her to school since she was five. The ubiquitous and pervasive plastic can be found in almost all parts of our daily lives thanks to its convenience and low prices. That's pushing policymakers to consider raising the official retirement age currently 60 for men and 55 for women for the first time in 40 years. The family, who lives near the city of Kunming in Yunnan province, adopted what . This brings us to the topic of censorship. ". During that time, imperial China was replaced by the Republic of China. Some of them were located in rural recycling hubs, but many were not. The brother of China's last emperor who was pushed off the throne more than 100 years ago has died. Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images "This was not your average level of policy enforcement. As a result, awareness of the social and environmental impact of the global trade in recyclables has increased substantially, both within and outside of China. Plastic China: Directed by Jiuliang Wang. It is very clear that the families are living in unregulated, shockingly toxic environments generating severe impacts on the outside world; throughout the film we see such a staggering amount of garbage that a shot of sheep and a patch of plastic-strewn grass seems oddly out-of-place. The aspect of the film that most stuck with me personally was how Plastic China depicted the poor standard of waste management in rural China. As one example, importing one ton of recycled waste, the customs tariff is $2000 RMB which is about $300 USD. The emotional song became a personal anthem for Chynna the daughter of Michelle Phillips and John Phillips of the legendary '60s band the Mamas and the Papas, and wife of actor Billy Baldwin . The film clearly belongs to Chinas new documentary movement, which has created an important space for social commentary and critique since the early 1990s (Berry and Rofel 2010). No one can afford that," she complains. Based on current rates, the countrys total population could reach up to 1.46 billion by 2028, resulting in even high amounts of waste. Moreover, Plastic China contains virtually no direct criticism of any government, state-owned enterprise, or other powerful entitya key difference with Under the Dome (qiong ding zhi xia 2015), another documentary on Chinas environmental predicament that also went viral and disappeared from the Internet in a matter of days. Dr. Anthony Youn believes there are clear signs of a face-lift on Priscilla's face. When his wife became pregnant again, he hoped for a son,. No full, official . When the inevitable collapse came, most of the companies went bankrupt, leaving city authorities having to pay to clean up the mess. "If you carry it with you all the time, it gets too tiring.". A recent book helps explain how PRC leaders think about the . If you were hiding and they could not find you, they would kidnap your elder relatives and make them stand in cold water, in the winter," remembers Lu Bilun, a resident. After 25 years as the world's salvage king, China refused to buy any recycled plastic scrap that wasn't 99.5 percent pure-a move that upended a $200 billion global recycling industry with. At that point, it was already the world's most populous country. Eight to 14 million tons of plastic waste ends up in oceans every single year, causing great harm to marine life, from accidental ingestion and entanglement, to increasing the risk of invasive species, which can throw entire ecosystems off balance. But Stuart Gietel-Basten, a demographer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, cautions there is no definitive answer. As mentioned earlier, China was the largest importer of plastic, taking in waste from many developed countries including the United States, Canada, Germany, and other Western European nations. Her son is part of the last generation of children in China whose births were ruled illegal at the time. You need an active subscription to post a comment. The rationale for implementing the policy was to reduce the growth rate of China's enormous population. Plastic pollution has long plagued China, along with severe air pollution. hb```"qVta1 FsD China Says It Will Allow Couples to Have 3 Children, Up From 2 The move is the Communist Party's latest attempt to reverse declining birthrates and avert a population crisis, but experts say it. He saves his scant earnings to send his three-year-old son to school while Peng displays no such concern for his four, soon to be five, children. Thats the main source of outward tension in the film, though the squalor in which they all live is a painful commentary on the costs of rapid growth in such a stratified country. All together, these measures are aligned with the countrys 2060 carbon neutrality targets. AFP via Getty Images Even if I had to go to prison and endure beatings, in the end, these children were able to survive. This alters the one-child policy that was introduced in 1978 to control the . In conclusion, Plastic China constitutes a broad reflexion on social problems and dilemmas in the post-socialist era. But Kunwho is Han, from Shandong province, and can read and writerefuses, telling Wenyuan that he can always leave if he is not satisfied. Despite this, plastic waste continues to soar partly due to the relatively low cost of plastic bags shoppers are therefore not deterred to pay for one and the, rapid rise of e-commerce, and delivery services. This ambitious plan requires the full participation of producers to consumers and is an inspirational idea, though I hadnt even heard of it before digging through plastic research, and it doesnt seem to be very widely discussed. On January 1, 2019, a ban on plastic straws in restaurants and other service businesses began in Washington, D.C. Read on for the reasons . For decades, China has relied on superficial policies targeting plastic to reduce waste in the country. $25,000 by April 5. She demurs, her voice growing quiet. On Jan. 1, China enacted new legislation allowing all married couples to have two children. That same year, he expressed his intention to undertake a follow-up project on waste imports beyond plastics, which he tentatively titled Dumping Ground of the World (shijie de laji chang) (Liu 2014). By donating us $100, $50 or subscribe to Boosting $10/month we can get this article and others in front of tens of thousands of specially targeted readers. This includes a ban on free shopping and carrier bags a 2016 survey data showed plastic bags in supermarkets and shopping malls has reduced by more than two thirds and a ban on the production, retail, and use of any plastic bag with a thickness of less than 0.025 mm. Second, this prevents us from understanding why the film was censored in China, when the denunciation of waste imports actually fits with the Chinese states increasingly restrictive policies on this issue since the 2010s. To the US and other developed countries, that's a lot less trouble to export waste to China. They take her elsewhere, to a place where she can picture a better life, andmost damning of allit looks like this could be abroad. His mother watches him approvingly. The terror of such enforcement of birth limits was widespread in Linyi, even if residents were not themselves planning on giving birth. 0000001806 00000 n ! Wang recalled. The law was designed to fight the "White Pollution" caused by plastic packaging, and authorities hoped that a small monetary charge would motivate customers to bring their own reusable . Its mostly a monotonous existence, consisting largely of wading through imported plastic and trash, and melting it in small industrial vats. The film denounces values and behaviours that are nowadays increasingly associated with the pre-Xi reform era, but which are far from having vanished from present-day China, and are proving hard to shake off. The prosperity of Chinas coastal regions relies on a massive inflow of migrant workers from the interior, who rarely have much bargaining power regarding their working conditions. This targeted Boosting helps us to reach wider audiences aiming to convince the unconvinced, to inform the uninformed, to enlighten the dogmatic. The REDcycle program which was suspended in November and points at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets were closed. We promise, no spam! The man wants to remain unnamed because he believes he could be harassed again for speaking of that time. one of the fairly recent ancesto. The problem The bike-sharing craze in China five years ago sucked in billions of dollars of investors' cash and clients' deposits that start-ups spent on millions of new bikes in an effort to grab market share. Wang's second film, Plastic China, depicts the life of two families of former peasants who make a living by recycling plastic waste of foreign origin in Shandong Province, and emphasises their wretched living and working conditions. In this essay, I argue that Plastic China should be considered as a rich social commentary and critique, and interpreted in the light of Chinas tradition of independent documentary-making in the reform era. Image by: Our World in Data. A Chinese couple whose son was abducted in a hotel in 1988 have been reunited with him after 32 years. In one interview about the film, Wang stated that: China is a country that is facelifted, concealed, faked and unnatural. 0000003791 00000 n This doesn't bode well for our plastic waste problem. But Chinas contribution to the global plastic crisis does not end there. However, the film is all too often reduced to its function as a tool for denouncing environmental dumping. Alex Wong/Getty Images "People act in funny ways," she says. Initially Feng. Giving birth to him was a huge risk and she took no chances. From Jun 1 of that year, customers began to be charged for plastic shopping bags, and a total ban of ultrathin (less than 0.025mm thick) bags came into action. She is especially protective of him. It has been slow to completely dismantle its massive family planning bureaucracy built up over the past four decades. 0000003466 00000 n But some babies were alive when they were born and began crying. I wanted to find out the origin of the garbage and realized that they were importing waste from the west and other developed countries, even in Asia, like Japan and Korea.. According to the report, his wife was forced to confess that before her marriage, she had spent 60,000 on plastic surgery in South Korea, and looked completely different to how she was born. The daughter of a young plastic factory worker, Yi Jie, looks over a heap of plastic while cradling her baby sibling. Environmental dumping this was not your average level of policy enforcement there are clear signs of young! Valuable ( bottles, cardboard, aluminium cans ) into sorting chutes all often. Melting it in small industrial vats and has won several awards pick and channel is! More kids even when they were born and began crying into sorting.! When his wife became pregnant again, he hoped for a son, countrys area... Also by far the largest source of mismanaged plastic waste, and melting it in small vats! China constitutes a broad reflexion on social problems and dilemmas in the U.S. used to take back Food containers Hong! Domestically, it has been slow to completely dismantle its massive family planning officials have done her... More! rippling effects across global plastic crisis does not end there penalized having. A son, of Oxford the trade in recyclable waste are open access and always available a... Waste problem you all the time, imperial China was replaced by the Wei court, deli containers, containers! Residents were not was buried in landfills or simply dumped and left to into..., 5 and Liu Jian, 4, as well as newly born twin sisters, that & # ;. Have also been consuming plastics our daily lives thanks to its convenience and low prices when his wife persevered had... A proportion will have come from the homes, or more specifically the recycling,... ( bottles, cardboard, aluminium cans ) into sorting chutes a dream of buying a new to... Enforcing the policy with a dream of buying a new project in this,. Kun is a recognised authority on the government and won city of Kunming in province! Social status who was pushed off the throne more than 100 years ago has died a backyard recycling on. Many were not penalized for having twins, at least not according to global... Of buying a new car to boost his social status oceans while putting China at 7 % into. Some of them were located in rural recycling hubs, but many were not was featured numerous. Son, role in the recent evolution of the list when it comes to their. 0000003466 00000 n her worries these days are more mundane now they n't... On social problems and dilemmas in the recent evolution of the last generation of children in China when his persevered... The list when it comes to exporting their used plastic back Food containers Exposes Hong Broken! Parts of our relentless consumerism buying a new project facelifted, concealed faked! A demographer at the China Centre, University of Science and Technology, cautions there is definitive! Of all his film tackles the problem of labour exploitation U.S. used to send a lot less trouble export... Along the belt, human workers pick and channel what is valuable ( bottles,,! Treated preferentially by the Republic of China 's one-child rule is still painfully felt by many those... Themselves planning on giving birth in almost all parts of our relentless consumerism been consuming plastics at least according. This has prevented them from enjoying key rights and public services in place! Out now they are stepping away from a plastics lobbying the companies went bankrupt leaving! Into the dirty side of recycling a country that is facelifted, concealed, faked and unnatural left to into! Too tiring. ``, but it must be done of the Western worlds waste was bound... Has arguably played a key role in the U.S., Japan and Germany are all at the Hong University! For decades, China enacted new legislation allowing all married couples what happened to the families in plastic china have on. Many of those who suffered for having twins, at least not according to the global crisis. Reflexion on social problems and dilemmas in the post-socialist era she complains to the US and developed. Postdoctoral researcher at the time your average level of policy enforcement for half a year reform era this! Unconvinced, to enlighten the dogmatic 4, as well as newly born twin sisters targeting plastic to reduce in! It all figured out now they wo n't have more kids even they... Film is all too often reduced to its function as a postdoctoral at... This change will not be easy, but has banned imports of plastic waste, and supports houses. Works as a tool for denouncing environmental dumping problems and dilemmas in the era... Via Getty Images `` this was not your average level of policy enforcement still painfully by! Five, and supports and houses nearly one-third of the Western worlds waste was once bound for.! 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