This paper analyzes the impacts of China’s Green Fence and National Sword Programs, under which strict contamination limits were imposed on recyclable materials, besides prohibiting imports of low quality recyclables. Specifically, this study investigates the impacts of this policy on landfills, and the risks to the U.S. plastics secondary materials market and material recovery facilities (MRFs). A hierarchical regression analysis reveals the significant impacts of China’s Green Fence and National Sword polices on the amount landfilled plastic. Controlling for oil prices, producer price index (PPI), and amount of plastic scrap exported, our findings show that the Green Fence had no statistically significant impact on the amount of plastic landfilled in the U.S. However, the quantity of plastic landfilled in the U.S. increased by 23.2% following the implementation of National Sword. Furthermore, analysis of the annual reports submitted by registered MRFs in New York (NY) state reveals that the total amount of plastic recovered by them has decreased. We suggest that demand creation and investments that improve the quality of bales are needed to help solve this economic dilemma.

This study investigates the performance consequences of adopting emerging digital technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, and cloud computing, with attention to financial, operational, and environmental dimensions. Using an event study of 134 adoption announcements by publicly traded U.S. firms from 2009 to 2019, we compare adopters with matched control firms identified through propensity score matching. The empirical evidence shows that adoption is followed by gains in profitability and market valuation, reflected in improvements in return on assets, return on equity, and Tobin’s Q, alongside higher inventory turnover. At the same time, adopting firms exhibit a measurable decline in greenhouse gas emissions when compared with matched control firms. Taken together, these results suggest that digital transformation can align economic performance with environmental improvement, rather than forcing firms to choose between the two. The findings therefore provide practical guidance for managers and policymakers seeking to evaluate digital investments through the lens of long-term sustainability.