Recovered plastic exports out of the U.S. totaled 481 million pounds in the first half of the year, up about 1% from 475 million pounds during the same period in 2023. | Menzl_Guenter/Shutterstock
More than half the recovered scrap plastic that left the U.S. during the first half of 2024 stayed in North America, as Canada and Mexico continued to be the largest buyers of U.S. material.
The Census Bureau this week released data for June exports, allowing for a half-year comparison with prior years. Recovered plastic exports out of the U.S. totaled 481 million pounds in the first half of the year, up about 1% from 475 million pounds during the same period in 2023.
The relatively unchanged volume comes after years of declining scrap plastic exports. The decline has been driven by overseas market shifts and overall increasing regulation of the global scrap plastic trade, including the 2021 Basel Convention amendment that applied to some of the most frequently exported scrap plastics.
The largest export markets were the U.S.’s northern and southern neighbors: Canada imported 154 million pounds, and Mexico brought in 112 million pounds.
Although both Canada and Mexico have long been major U.S. plastic buyers, the decline of other markets has heightened their importance in the marketplace. During the first half of 2019, for instance, Canada and Mexico together imported 27% of U.S. plastic. But half-year figures show that since 2022, the countries have received more than 50% of U.S. material.
The third-largest downstream destination for scrap plastic was Malaysia, importing 46 million pounds during the first half of the year. According to the trade data, 41% of the exports to Malaysia were categorized as polyethylene, 28% were PET, and 28% were categorized as “other” plastics, a category that generally includes mixed plastic.
Other major downstream outlets during the first half of 2024 included India (41 million pounds), Vietnam (26 million pounds) and Indonesia (24 million pounds).
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