Plastic waste exports from the UK 2001-2024

The United Kingdom exported approximately 598,000 metric tons of plastic waste in 2024, slightly down in comparison to the previous year. UK exports of plastic waste increased rapidly during the 2000s and reached a peak of 880,000 metric tons in 2011 but have been on a mostly downward trend since.

Shifting export destinations

China was the biggest contributor to the United Kingdom’s plastic waste export peak of the early 2010s, with over 300 thousand metric tons of plastic waste exported to the Asian country each year. This figure later decreased greatly due to China’s policy changes regarding foreign waste imports. As one of the largest exporters of plastic waste worldwide, the UK started exporting waste to other destinations, mainly OECD countries. The Netherlands and Turkey were among the top destinations for UK plastic waste exports in 2024.

Domestic recycling efforts

As plastic waste exports started to decline in recent years, the UK boosted its domestic recycling capacity. For example, the UK’s plastic packaging recycling rate nearly doubled between 2012 and 2023, reaching 52.5 percent in the latter year. By then, half of the plastic packaging waste collected in the UK was processed domestically.