After China closed the world’s biggest recycling market earlier this year, Europe has struggled to manage its plastic waste. Half of the plastic waste Europe previously shipped to China now goes to other parts of Asia; the remainder has been temporarily stored, awaiting new markets to emerge and accept the excess. The main alternatives are to either bury or burn it. Due to limited landfill space, the favored option is to burn waste to produce electricity and heat. However radical ideas are also under consideration, for example, "plastic mining," or putting oil-derived plastic underground to “mine” back when recycling becomes more sophisticated. For the full story, see: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-environment-plastics-insight/plastics-mines-europe-struggles-as-pollution-piles-up-idUKKBN1IC0FS.