U.S. Plastic Scrap Exports Tumbled 26% Until August

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest U.S. Census Bureau data suggests substantial decline in exports of scrap plastic by the country during the initial eight-month period this year. This is when compared with the corresponding period a year before. The imports of the material by the country too registered decline year-on-year.

The U.S. exports of plastic waste and scrap recorded year-on-year decline by more than 26%. The exports were valued at $144.79 million through August this year, as compared with $196.44 million during the period from January to August in 2019. The yearly exports of the material had totalled $278.56 million in 2019.

The top destination of exports was Canada. The exports to that country recorded modest decline by almost 17% over the previous year to total $37.20 million. Canada accounted for approximately 26% of all shipments of scrap plastic by the U.S until August this year. The second largest importer was Malaysia, whose imports totalled $17.55 million. In third place was Hong Kong with $13.08 million worth of imports from the U.S. The other key foreign markets were Mexico ($12.79 million) and Vietnam ($7.66 million). The above five top importers together accounted for nearly 61% of the total shipments of plastic scrap by the U.S. from January to August this year.

The U.S. imports of plastic waste, scrap decreased 10.73% through August 2020 to $134.77 million. The top sources of import were Mexico ($46.43 million), Canada ($27.74 million), Thailand ($7.30 million), Indonesia ($7.17 million) and Honduras ($6.42 million).

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