U.S. Exports of Recycled Plastics Declined 38%

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest U.S. Census Bureau data suggests substantial decline in exports of scrap plastic by the country during the first eleven months of 2019. This is when compared with the corresponding period in 2018. The imports of the material by the country too registered notable decline year-on-year.

The U.S. exports of plastic waste and scrap recorded year-on-year decline by approximately 38%. The exports were valued at $261.21 million through November last year, as compared with $418.99 million during the period from January to November in 2018.

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The top export destination was Canada. The exports to that country recorded marginal decline by almost 6% over the previous year to total $60.50 million. Canada accounted for just over 23% of all shipments of scrap plastic by the U.S. The second largest importer was India, whose imports totalled $32.31 million. In third place was Hong Kong with $27.72 million worth of imports from the U.S. The other key foreign markets were Mexico ($17.99 million) and Malaysia ($14.03 million).

The U.S. imports of plastic waste and scrap registered year-on-year decline by 7.30% through November 2019 to total $208.75 million. The top sources of import were Mexico ($74.31 million), Canada ($45.60 million), Honduras ($12.83 million), Germany ($9.42 million) and Japan ($9.13 million).