An excellent visual explainer from Reuters shows how it’s not just transport costs that are affected by the rising price of oil, but the cost of chemicals and plastics used in everyday products too.

Prices have risen particularly quickly in Asia, exposing our over-dependence on this fossil fuel material. Many, including the UN, have questioned the trade barriers blocking the use of alternative materials, and pointed to the resilience that local reuse infrastructure could provide in these times.

The dubious honour of world’s biggest dumpers leaves recipient nations like Turkey and Malaysia unable to cope with the sheer volume of incoming trash, while legal loopholes allow these exports to count towards official recycling rates.

The EU has promised an end to non-OECD exports by November of this year. However this will not cover Turkey, nor another loophole that will allow waste to be exported to the UK (not covered by the regulations), before being shipped on to countries in the Global South.