Is it really right to ship rubbish to China?

On Newsnight last night, the government minister Joan Ruddock defended the practice of sending plastic rubbish to China because, she said, it saved the boats from sailing empty when they return from delivering us all the stuff China has manufactured on our behalf.

It was a telling remark.

Jeremy Paxman had asked her why more plastic was not recycled here in the UK. Her response showed clearly that even the Labour government believes that globalisation is some kind of inevitable, natural process, much like the passing of the seasons, or the succession of night and day, rather than a political choice, just one out of many.

A less polluting alternative would be to make ourselves more self-sufficient in this country by building recycling facilities here and actually manufacturing things with the (re)new(ed material. This would create jobs and put an end to those vast and polluting shipping trips.

But what about the poor Chinese? Whatever will they do without that trade, which brings them so much benefit?

We too benefit from international trade, in much the same way (which is to say, not a great deal). We import and export, with a variety of trading partners - at a great cost in carbon emissions - and count this a benefit because it increases GDP. There seems to me to be no good reason why we couldn't simply consume what we produce, instead, and accept lower GDP.

In case you missed it last time, permit me to retell my favourite new joke, about two economists who challenge each other to eat a pile of dog poo for £20,000 a go. (At a time of global food shortage, the joke has particular resonance, I like to think.)

Having done both - eaten sh*t and rendered themselves precisely no better off than before - they pat each other on the back and congratulate themselves. Why? Because they've increased GDP. I commend the joke to Joan Ruddock, and hope it helps to modify her views on international trade.

Comments

[carl clark]

The chinese are more intelligent than us they are turning the plastic into lots of products then selling it back to us as cheap chinese rubbish that you see in poundland and poundstretcher shops,so in fact we are paying them to take our rubbish then buying it back at inflated prices.