Exhibition Debut
Photos by Annika Felder and Igor Vermeer
Found Diagrams of Plastic Waste Production
Global plastics production, 1950 to 2015, image courtesy of Our World in Data
Share of plastic waste that is inadequately managed, 2010, image courtesy of Our World in Data
Plastic waste generation, 2020, image courtesy of Our World in Data
China's Plastic Waste Import Ban
2017 China Aluminum Waste Imports, screenshot from Chatham House resourcetrade.earth
Imports of plastic waste to East and Southeast Asia, image by Greenpeace
Imports of plastic waste to China, image by Greenpeace
2018 China ban on plastic imports, screenshot from China24
Malaysia waste lot, 2017, source: DigitalGlobe
Malaysia waste lot, 2018, source: DigitalGlobe
2017 China Plastic Waste World Trade Organization Announcement
Diagrams of Plastic Waste Global Market
Plastic waste imports with/without restrictions, source: Greenpeace
The Business of Junk
2017 To 2018 Plastic Waste Cycle
2013–2019 Canadian Waste Export to Philippines Incident
Overall Timeline
Detailed Timeline
Philippines-China Relations in the Media, articles by Macarena Vidal Liy from El País
2017 Philippines Plastic Waste Imports
2017 Trudeau speaks about human rights, screenshot from Rappler
2019 Philippines President Duterte threatens Canada over garbage disposal dispute, screenshot from Radio Television Malacañang
2019 Tweet by Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teddy Locsin Jr.
Screenshots of Global Plastic Waste Data Research
Analysis of UN Comtrade Data for “Waste”
Searching UN Trade Data Center for HS3915 Waste Category
Filtering UN Comtrade Data for HS3915 Waste Exports from Malaysia
Filtering UN Comtrade Data for HS3915 Waste Exports from United States
Filtering UN Comtrade Data for HS3915 Waste Imports to China
Plastic Waste Import Data Pre- and Post-2018 China Ban
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports over 1,500 Tons to China, 2017 v. 2018
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports over 1,500 Tons to Hong Kong, 2017 v. 2018
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports over 1,500 Tons to Vietnam, 2017 v. 2018
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports over 1,500 Tons to Malaysia, 2017 v. 2018
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports over 1,500 Tons to Indonesia, 2017 v. 2018
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports over 1,500 Tons to Thailand, 2017 v. 2018
All 3915 Waste Plastic Imports to Philippines, 2017 v. 2018
Installation Sketches
The Relationship is No Longer Garbage Film Stills
The Relationship is No Longer Garbage Final Film
The Relationship Is No Longer Garbage
The Anderen
In 2013 the private company Chronic Plastic Inc. shipped 103 containers labelled as “plastic” (HS3915) to be recycled from Canada to the Philippines. Two-thirds of the shipment contained household waste that was not suitable for recycling. The discovery of this mislabelled waste led to a six-year diplomatic dispute. Canada eventually repatriated 69 containers of junk in 2019. A spokesman for Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine President, declared that diplomatic relationships had been restored. The relationship between the countries was no longer garbage.
Junk has become a valuable resource for the production of goods, creating a global trade that is constantly adapting to changing legislation. In 2018, China banned the import of foreign waste. Now, plastic rubbish is being diverted to South-East Asian countries that do not have a developed waste-management infrastructure, creating potential economic opportunities and environmental disasters. In the past few months, a number of these countries have also threatened to ban the import of trash, emulating China’s stance against acting as a dumping ground for western nations.
Some believed that Duterte was using the trash conflict to score points against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he criticised Duterte’s human-rights record. Others claimed that Duterte was keen to be seen to stand up to a major, western power. Revealing the tensions and traces of the international trade in junk, Karin Fischnaller and Mar Ginot Blanco transform information from the UN’s Comtrade database into a graphic that accompanies a conversation between the President of the Philippines and the Canadian Prime Minister made possible through video editing.
Credits
Data: UN Monthly Comtrade x
References
Adam Minter, Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade (London: Bloomsbury, 2013).
Alice Ross, “UK household plastics found in illegal dumps in Malaysia,” Greenpeace Unearthed, October 21, 2018. Link
CBC News, “Ship carrying Canadian trash arrives from the Philippines,” YouTube, June 29, 2019. Link
Ellen Airhart, “China Won’t Solve the World’s Plastics Problem Any More,” Wired, July 20, 2018. Link
Erin McCormick et al., “Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret,” The Guardian, June 17, 2019. Link
Global News, “‘We will declare war’ Philippines' Duterte threatens Canada over garbage disposal dispute,” YouTube, April 23, 2019. Link
Greenpeace East Asia, "Data from the global plastics waste trade 2016–2018 and the offshore impact of China’s foreign waste import ban," April 23, 2019. Link
Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser, “Plastic Pollution,” Our World in Data, September 2018. Link
Leslie Hook and John Reed, “Why the world’s recycling system stopped working,” Financial Times, October 25, 2018. Link
Rappler, “Trudeau says ‘now theoretically possible to get back’ Canada trash in PH,” YouTube, November 13, 2017. Link
Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin), “At midnight last night, letters for the recall of our ambassador and consults to Canada went out…” Tweet, May 16, 2019. Link
Tyler Choi, “Ship carrying waste arrives back in Canada from the Philippines,” Reuters, June 29, 2019. Link
United Nations Comtrade Database Link
United Nations Environment Programme, Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (Basel: United Nations, 2014.) Link
“Waste shipment statistics,” Eurostat, January 4, 2019. Link
Bio
The Anderen is an Amsterdam based graphic and information design studio by Karin Fischnaller and Mar Ginot. In today’s complex world The Anderen create visual narratives that share the relevant information: stories, numbers, fiction. They observe, analyse, map and experiment to transform their work into innovative online platforms, publications, visual identities and built work among others.