How China’s National Sword policy caused a global disruption to domestic recycling programmes, encouraged Southeast Asian nations to reject Western waste, and inspired a massive Chinese investment in American recycling facilities
Inside the new waste disposal system brought in for tens of millions of residents one of China’s biggest cities, and finding the truth in the hype over hi-tech trash cans, RFID chips and the social credit system
One city used an old English folk song to create a culture of recycling and domestic waste separation, while the other finds itself on the wrong side of China’s National Sword policy
A new modern phenomenon is causing a massive increase in single-use plastic packaging, overwhelming any positive effect of bans on plastic straws - but new technology might be able to join the dots between food disposal and food production
