Recycled Plastic Exports Plunge in First Half of 2019

The most recently released federal trade statistics show that recycled plastics exports have dropped by roughly 47 percent compared to the same period in 2018.

Resource Recycling reports that in the first half of 2019, U.S. exporters shipped 773 million pounds of scrap plastic compared to nearly 1.5 billion pounds exported in the first half of 2018.

U.S. exports have been heavily impacted by China’s ban on most scrap plastic imports and by import restrictions implemented throughout Southeast Asia, as countries are trying to handle an influx of materials in the wake of China’s ban.

The report also notes that fiber exports during the first half of 2019 totaled 9.68 million short tons, down from 10.1 million the same period last year. The relative stability of paper exports is primarily due to China’s continuing imports of old corrugated cardboard from the U.S., according to the report.

Resource Recycling has more:

Federal trade statistics released last week show U.S. export volumes for the first six months of 2019. Recycled plastics have seen a major drop when compared with figures from a year ago.

U.S. exporters shipped out 773 million pounds of scrap plastic in the first half of 2019, down 47% from the nearly 1.5 billion pounds exported during that period last year.

The 1.5 billion pounds in 2018 was already down from 2.1 billion pounds in 2017, a decrease of about 29%.

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