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Fending off waste from the west: The impact of China's Operation Green Fence on the international waste trade

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  • Adomas Balkevicius
  • Mark Sanctuary
  • Sigita Zvirblyte

Abstract

China launched the first Operation Green Fence (OGF) on 1 February 2013 to fend off inflows of illegal waste. The main objective of OGF was to enforce waste trade policies already adopted by China and thereby restrict illegal waste imports. We use a gravity model of international trade with annual bilateral waste trade data at the 6‐digit HS code level to assess the impact of OGF on the international waste trade. First, we study the direct impact of OGF and find that the intervention resulted in a 26% drop in low‐quality waste exports to China from developed countries. Second, we assess the impact of OGF on exports from developed countries to developing countries, excluding China. We do not find a statistically significant effect of OGF on low‐quality waste exports from developed countries to developing countries (excluding China). We also test the waste haven hypothesis and do not find evidence that waste exports were disproportionately diverted to countries with lax environmental regulation.

Suggested Citation

  • Adomas Balkevicius & Mark Sanctuary & Sigita Zvirblyte, 2020. "Fending off waste from the west: The impact of China's Operation Green Fence on the international waste trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(10), pages 2742-2761, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:43:y:2020:i:10:p:2742-2761
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.12949
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Trang Tran & Hiromasa Goto & Takuma Matsuda, 2021. "The Impact of China’s Tightening Environmental Regulations on International Waste Trade and Logistics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Johann H. Martínez & Sergi Romero & José J. Ramasco & Ernesto Estrada, 2022. "The world-wide waste web," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, December.
    3. Konstantin Sommer, 2024. "The Chinese waste import ban and the emergence of waste havens within Europe," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-053/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Liang Guo & W. D. Walls & Xiaoli Zheng, 2023. "Waste Import Bans and Environmental Quality: Evidence from China’s Electronic Waste Disposal Towns," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 85(1), pages 65-108, May.
    5. Chunsuttiwat,Pukitta & Coxhead,Ian, 2023. "Will you take my (s)crap? Waste havens in the global plastic waste trade," IDE Discussion Papers 895, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).

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