The U.S. exported 1.3 billion fewer pounds of scrap plastic in 2018 than the year before, new figures show, representing a 35 percent decrease.
This story has been updated.
The Indian government says it will ban scrap plastic imports, a move that threatens to further disrupt the U.S. recycling industry by closing a growing market.
U.S. trade figures for November 2018 were released last week, and they indicate significant year-over-year declines in tonnages of plastics shipped out of the country.
Year-end customs figures from the Chinese government quantify the country’s overwhelming decrease in recycled plastic purchases in the first year of new import restrictions.
Waste Management’s latest sustainability report delves into factors impacting the plastics recycling industry as a whole, including fluctuating markets, sustainable materials management, technological advances and more.
Southeast Asian countries are moving to constrain imports of recyclables, but some exporters are mislabeling scrap plastic shipments to get around the restrictions.
Taiwan becomes the latest Asian country to restrict recyclables imports, and China confirms post-industrial plastic will be banned from import at the end of the year.
Southeast Asian countries continue to place restrictions on scrap plastic imports, affecting movement from U.S. ports.
