Sustainability and Waste Imports in China: Pollution Haven or Resources Hunting

Motivations behind a country’s importation of waste are categorized into the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) and resource hunting (RHH). The wastes can lead to environmental sustainability concerns, requiring governments intervene when market fails reduce negative externalities by strengthening implementing regulations. Motivated China’s position within rapidly growing but environmentally damaging sector trade, this paper has three goals: (1) classify primary that governs flow traded wastes; (2) verify heterogeneous impact paradise motivation demand imports from developed developing countries, across industries; (3) assess domestic regulations on motives imports. Using 28 imported waste-varieties 20 major trade partners 24 years, findings indicate Chinese is relatively unresponsive under effect. However, effect countries significantly greater than what originates despite laws 2011 2017 established restrict activities. These results have important implications for improving efficiency sorting recycling systems.