In the first half of 2020, the United States exported 635 million pounds of waste plastics (288000 tons), down 18% from the same period last year.

The latest trade figures show that the export volume of waste plastics decreased in the same period from January to June. The downward trend was driven by a decline in exports to India.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of statistics released export statistics for June 2020, providing a panoramic picture of waste plastics exports in the first half of the year.

The statistics reflect the impact of last year's import restrictions on Southeast Asian countries and the results of this year's epidemic.

In the first half of 2020, the United States exported 635 million pounds of waste plastics, down 18% from the same period in 2019, and 47% in 2019 compared with the same period in the previous year.

Most of the U.S. overseas markets have experienced moderate or severe declines in the export of waste plastics, but there are two exceptions. Although Malaysia has implemented strict import policy of waste plastics in recent years, its import volume has doubled. Vietnam's imports have also doubled.

However, this increase cannot offset the decline in exports to India, which fell from 156 million pounds in the first half of 2019 to 23 million pounds in the same period of this year. The decline in exports to India is directly due to India's increasingly stringent import regulation of waste plastics. Because of the epidemic, India is facing difficulties in locking up the country and customs clearance.

Comparison of export destinations of waste plastics in the United States in the first half of 2019 / 2020