Lately, four authorities, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment ("MEE"), have jointly distributed the Announcement on Adjusting the Catalog of Imported Waste Management (the "Announcement").
The Announcement provides clarity in the following respects. First, 16 varieties of solid wastes, including scrapped metals, discarded vessels, compressed pieces of scrapped cars, smelting slags and industrial-source waste plastics, are removed from the Catalog of Restricted Imported Solid Wastes Usable as Raw Materials and included into the Catalog of Forbidden Imported Solid Wastes, and the new policy will take effect from December 31, 2018. Second, another 16 categories of solid wastes, such as stainless-steel scraps, titanium scraps, and wood scraps, are relocated from the Catalog of Restricted Imported Solid Wastes Usable as Raw Materials and the Catalog of Non-restricted Imported Solid Wastes Usable as Raw Materials into the Catalog of Forbidden Imported Solid Wastes, and this adjustment will come into force as of December 31, 2019. In case of any discrepancy between this Announcement and the catalog affixed to the Catalog of Imported Waste Management, this Announcement shall prevail.