CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) reports that in 2009, 82 per cent of plastic waste from Winnipeg, Canada, was destined for China to be remade into countless plastic goods for world markets.

These so-called second-life durable goods include fly swatters, dolls, tossed yogurt tubs, margarine bins, carpets, polar fleeces, and so on. However, these products do not get further recycled. Instead, consumers trash these items after they get old or worn down.

Critics of Winnipeg's plastic recycling system says it betrays the recycling symbol found on almost all blue boxes: the three arrows in a closed loop, suggesting the materials are continuously recycled.

(Source: Winnipeg ships plastic waste to China [CBC])