Compared with the same period last year, the export volume of waste paper of the United States increased significantly in the first six months of 2021, of which a large amount flowed into India and Thailand, while the export of plastics remained stable year-on-year.
Us waste paper exports jumped from 7.4 million tons in the first half of 2020 to 9 million tons this year. The figure for 2021 is still lower than that before 2020. In the first half of this year, the largest exporter of waste paper in the United States was India, which imported a total of 2.4 million waste paper, accounting for more than a quarter of the total export of waste paper in the United States in the same period. Compared with 970000 tons in the same period in 2020, the import volume in the first half of this year obviously increased significantly.
In the first half of this year, other major importing countries included Mexico (1.1 million tons), Thailand (1.04 million tons), Vietnam (1.02 million tons), Taiwan (490000 tons), Canada (483000 tons), South Korea (403000 tons), Malaysia (390000 tons) and Indonesia (326000 tons). For Thailand, the waste paper imported from the United States in the first half of 2021 increased by 260% compared with 288000 tons imported in the same period in 2020. The growth of these countries is easing the impact of China’s waste paper import ban, which has left a huge gap in the global waste paper export market.
Compared with exports in the first half of 2017, the total export volume of waste paper in the United States decreased by 12% in 2021. In 2017, China’s waste paper imports accounted for 66% of all waste paper exports in the United States, while in the same period this year, China’s waste paper imports accounted for 3% of U.S. waste paper exports.
The export of waste paper pulp from the United States also continued. This is a relatively new business model in which waste paper is recycled and pulped in the United States and then transported elsewhere for final product manufacturing. In the first half of 2021, US exporters exported 205000 tons of pulp made of waste paper, which was the same as 203000 tons exported in the same period last year. The export market is mainly concentrated in China, accounting for 83% of the total export of waste paper pulp in the United States and 12% in Canada.
In addition, in the first half of this year, American companies exported slightly more recycled plastics than in the same period in 2020. From January to June, exporters exported 643.8 million pounds of waste plastics, slightly higher than 641.6 million pounds exported a year ago. Canada is the largest importer of plastics. The country imported 190.1 million pounds of waste plastics, accounting for nearly 30% of all U.S. material exports, which also created the highest level of plastic imports in the first half of 2016.
In view of the changes in the regulation of the Basel Convention, the governments of Canada and the United States have reached an agreement to maintain the ability to export recycled plastics to Canada, so as to increase exports to Canada. Broadly speaking, the changes of the Basel Convention have strengthened the supervision of waste plastic transportation and officially closed the door for the United States to send materials to some countries. The United States is not a party to the Convention and is therefore prohibited from trading certain plastics with the United States. However, export data show that the United States continues to send materials to Basel party countries.
For example, Malaysia imported 118.5 million pounds of waste plastics in the first half of this year. As a party to the Basel Convention, the country has paid more attention to the import of plastic waste in recent years. Some types of waste plastics exported from the United States to Malaysia are currently considered prohibited – for example, mixed plastics may be prohibited. But a high-profile export case earlier this year clearly illustrates how to interpret the rules and what materials are allowed to enter.
After the anti export organization marked the plastic goods shipped from the United States to Malaysia in February, Malaysian inspectors intercepted the container and inspected it when it arrived in the country. They reported that the container contained waste polyethylene, which met the country’s clean and separated waste import standards. This places the goods outside the Basel Convention names that prohibit them from entering the country.
Export data from January to June show that 67% of plastics destined for Malaysia are designated as polyethylene“ The “other” plastic category, which usually includes mixed plastic bags, plastics recovered from electronic products and other mixed material streams, accounts for 14%. Most plastics shipped to Canada are identified as “other” plastics.
In the first half of 2021, other major importers of waste plastics from the United States were Mexico (80.4 million pounds), Vietnam (50 million pounds), India (39.4 million pounds), Indonesia (28.8 million pounds), Turkey (16.9 million pounds), Hong Kong (15.3 million pounds) and Taiwan (15 million pounds).
Post time: Sep-03-2021