The amount of ‘waste plastic’ exported from the UK fell by 35% in June 2021, compared with the previous year, according to data published by the Basel Action Network (BAN) and sourced from UK Trade Info.
BAN said that a total of 31,900 tonnes were exported in June 2021, down from 49,000 in June 2020 and 37,000 in May 2021. However, the data is not broken down into material sources, such as bottles, film or other items.
A non-governmental lobby group, BAN claimed the reduction is due to export restrictions which were in place in Turkey during June 2021. It said 10,800 tonnes were exported from the UK to Turkey in May 2021, while just 56 tonnes were exported the following month.
The organisation said in the dataset that a later adjustment of these restrictions means imports are expected to increase again in July 2021.
Based in Seattle, Washington, BAN says it’s a charitable non-governmental organisation which “works to combat the export of toxic waste from technology and other products from industrialised societies to developing countries”.
Data
Some caution is to be taken with the figures because statistics from UK Trade Info are seen by some in the sector as not being entirely accurate as they often contain some non-waste material.
In the first six months of 2021, according to BAN’s dataset, exports of waste plastic from the UK fell by around 25,000 tonnes to approximately 250,000, when compared with the same period in 2020.
Asia
BAN’s data shows that exports to Asia have plummeted since the turn of the year when the Basel Convention was introduced.
The Basel Plastic Waste Amendments were enacted on January 1, 2021. They were designed to reduce the flows of mixed plastic waste to non-OECD countries.
As outlined below, exports dried up to some of the previously biggest export markets such as Malaysia and Vietnam.
Europe
Despite a drop in the amount of waste plastic exported to Asia, the amount exported to the EU and other OECD countries has increased.
Exports to Poland from the UK increased to 4,500 tonnes per month in June 2021 from, up from 3,900 months in May 2021 and around 3,500 tonnes in June 2020.
In June 2021, the Netherlands received the most plastic waste from the UK, taking in 32% (10,000 tonnes) of waste plastic.
In terms of plastic type, HDPE and LDPE remains the most exported material, followed by ‘other’ (including PET), polypropylene, styrene and PVC.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
