Global ranking report on plastic waste export and import
CleanHub, a well-known environmental protection organization in Germany, is an organization that has long focused on the global plastic waste problem. At the beginning of May, the agency released a ranking report on the export and import of plastic waste in various countries around the world.
Country | Export Plastic Waste (ton/year) |
Germany | 688,067 |
Japan | 606,374 |
UK | 600,000 |
Netherlands | 576,702 |
USA | 431,841 |
Belgium | 391,263 |
France | 344,367 |
Italy | 205,621 |
Canada | 201,780 |
Austria | 174,976 |
The report shows that the top 10 countries export plastic waste to other countries every year, with a total amount of more than 4.4 million tons, accounting for 71% of the total global plastic waste export. In other words, it is mainly these 10 countries that dump plastic foreign garbage into the world.
The export of plastic waste is mainly transported by ocean-going freighters and packed in containers, which can transport hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic waste at a time. Germany, Japan, Britain, the Netherlands and the United States export the most plastic waste. The top 10 countries are all high-income developed countries, 7 of which are in Europe. They export more than 4.4 million tons of plastic waste every year.
Last year, Japan's exports increased by 7%, Canada increased by 10%, and Netherlands exports increased by 69% in the past four years. Ironically, the Netherlands government has always opposed the ban on the export of plastic waste.
The destination of plastic waste mainly flows into Asian countries, such as Turkey, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia, and the amount of imported plastic waste is concentrated in 600,000-200,000 tons every year. Of the plastic waste exported to Asia, some plastics are recycled, some are burned to obtain energy, and some are sent to landfills for proper management-but most plastics are poorly managed. Some end up on the streets or in the ocean, and some end up in large, uncontrolled garbage dumps, and spontaneously ignite or be set on fire.
Indonesia mismanages 4.9 million tons of plastic waste every year, most of which is abandoned in unofficial garbage dumps; There is also Thailand, where 58% of plastic waste is poorly managed every year; Turkey's plastic waste recycling process is also in a state of poor supervision, constantly discharging toxic pollutants, such as illegally burned or dumped plastic waste.