For the first nine months of 2024, recovered plastic exports remained steady year over year, marking a change from multiple years of annual declines in export volume.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently published trade data for September, allowing for an analysis of third-quarter trade data and the first nine months of the year as a whole. Scrap plastic exports totaled 705 million pounds from January through September, up slightly from 701 million pounds during that period in 2023.
The U.S. exported 223 million pounds of scrap plastic during the third quarter, on par with the 226 million pounds exported during the third quarter last year. That marks a shift in the multi-year trend of substantial declines for the full year and in the third quarter, which was apparent in 2022 and 2021 as well as in 2019 and 2018 amid a global scrap plastic market shakeup.
Canada was the largest importer, receiving 81 million pounds of plastic, followed by Mexico with 43 million pounds. Other major importers of U.S. material were India with 21 million pounds, Malaysia with 17 million pounds, Vietnam with 13 million pounds and Indonesia with 11 million pounds.
Plastic exports have dropped significantly in recent years, driven by import bans and restrictions in China and southeast Asia as well as a 2021 amendment adding some scrap plastic to the list of materials regulated under the Basel Convention, a global waste treaty. This year’s third-quarter exports are down 82% from 10 years ago, when the U.S. exported 1.24 billion pounds of scrap plastic.
