Numerous studies have raised the concern that waste exports could create a “race to the bottom” in which pollution ends up going to the places with the least environmental oversight.
“The waste trade works like any other … They find the cheapest place to bring it,” said Tim Whitehouse, a former attorney for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who now runs the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. “The shippers know where to send it … It often ends up where the regulations are the weakest.”
