Exports of recovered plastic from the U.S.A have been on a downward trend for the past few years. In 2023, the amount exported totaled less than one fifth of the amount exported a decade before.
The 2023 export volume of 918 million pounds was the lowest since the U.S. Department of Commerce began records in 2002. In 2014, waste exports hit a record high of 4.8 billion pounds shipped out of the U.S. in a single year.
The decrease has been driven by a combinbation of market shifts and global regulatory changes, including the fact that China closed the door to waste plastic imports from 2018 onwards and the Basel Convention adding new rules for shipping of recovered plastic worldwide.