US Exports of Plastic Waste and Scrap Declined 14% in 2017

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The US exports of plastic waste and scrap totaled $632.88 million during the entire year 2017. This is considerably down by 14% when compared with the exports during the year before it. The country had exported $733.76 million worth of plastic waste and scrap during 2016. This is in accordance with the latest trade statistics published by the US Census Bureau.

The largest export destination was China. The country imported $190.8 million of plastic waste and scrap from the US. The exports to China declined substantially by nearly one-third during the year, mainly on the back of tough restrictions imposed by that country. Meantime, China accounted for over 30% of all plastic waste and scrap exports by the US during the year. The second largest importer was Hong Kong with $130.97 million, accounting for nearly 21% market share. The other primary destinations were Canada ($67.9 million), India ($58.4 million) and Vietnam ($45.7 million).

The above five foreign markets received 78% of the exports out of the US during 2017. The combined imports by these five countries from the US totaled $493.83 million.

On the other hand, imports of plastic waste and scrap by the US surged higher marginally by 4% over the previous year. The imports were up from $212.57 million in 2016 to $221.52 million in 2017. The top five suppliers during the year were Mexico ($85.7 million), Canada ($52 million), China ($11.4 million), Honduras ($9.9 million) and Ecuador ($6.9 million). Among them, imports from Canada, China and Ecuador increased over the previous year, whereas Mexico and Honduras shipped lesser volume when matched with the previous year. The largest supplier, Mexico acconted for nearly 39% of the total US imports.

The combined imports from the above five countries totaled $165.94 million, representing almost three-fourth of the total plastic waste and scrap imported by the US in 2017.