Why is China Trash?

China has been a big importer of American waste, especially scrap metal. ... Sparked by the trade war, China has been imposing restrictions on everything from recycled metals to recyclable plastics, most of which comes from the good ole US of A, home to the world's largest disposable consumer economy. Thus, in order to cope with demand and lower costs, the import of waste has increased again. The increasing demand led China to rely heavily on the import of waste, such as waste plastics. However, this also formed the dependence of other countries in the world on China's imports of waste plastics. China was exporting more manufactured goods than ever before on enormous container ships, and businesses saw that it was inexpensive to fill the empty space that was available on return trips with recyclable trash. This informal waste industry eventually grew to employ 3 to 5 million people.

American Civil War[www.history.com]
China Piling Up Trash[e360.yale.edu]
Obama's Net Worth[www.businessinsider.com]