The U.S. exported 1.46 billion pounds of scrap plastics in 2019, down 38% from the year before. | qingqing/Shutterstock
Scrap plastic exports from the U.S. continued a steady decrease that has unfolded over the past few years, dropping in 2019 to their lowest total volume since 2002.
Delegates from the Chinese plastics recycling sector will travel to the U.S. next month with an eye toward planning for the industry’s future.
Market disruption from Chinese import restrictions has led Chinese companies to examine investments in the U.S. recycling industry – but that’s not without precedent. An Ohio processor recently expanded on a similar partnership it entered after the last major Chinese imports crackdown.
A Chinese company will open a plastics recycling facility in Georgia, the latest instance in a growing trend of Chinese investment in North American processing infrastructure.
Green Tech Solution is developing a recycling facility in Blacksburg, S.C.
A Chinese investment firm is planning a $75 million recycling plant to process scrap plastics, electronics and other materials.
China will ban the sale of plastic bags in certain areas, stepping up to a complete ban nationwide by 2025. | olesea vetrila/Shutterstock
After shaking up the U.S. recycling sector with an import ban on post-consumer plastics, the Chinese government is taking aim at its own plastic waste generation.
In April, the Chinese government will enact new requirements for pellet imports. | Piyathep/Shutterstock
Officials in Beijing are set to enact new requirements around the purity of recycled pellets imported into China.
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In October, India’s imports of U.S. scrap plastics dropped to their lowest single-month volume since at least 2002. | November Studio/Shutterstock
Export figures continue to show the power of recycled plastic import restrictions in Southeast Asia. Countries that were previously the largest overseas markets have seen massive decreases in U.S. plastic imports since mid-2018.
U.S. electronics recycling companies and brokers say they’re currently able to move e-plastics. | Alexey Lesik/Shutterstock
Asia remains the destination for many plastics recovered from electronics. But as buyers relocate from China to other countries, prices are down and quality and volume are increasingly critical factors.
Dow recently announced it will collaborate with a Thai virgin plastics producer on recycling solutions. | Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock
Dow recently inked agreements to boost plastics recovery in Europe and Southeast Asia, including through the use of chemical recycling technologies.