The OECD conducts annual monitoring reports to track international shipments of plastic waste and scrap. Ahead of the INC-4 meeting, the 2024 edition of the series shows that:
🌍 The global export volume of plastic waste has declined 49% in the past six years. Trade fell from 12.4 million tonnes in 2017 to 6.3 million tonnes in 2022.
📈 Regional trade – both within OECD European countries and North America – is increasing. 79% of OECD Europe’s and 66% of OECD North America’s exports of plastic waste in 2022 were regional.
⚖ OECD countries are transitioning from export dependence to a more neutral trade balance. In 2022, exports from OECD countries continued to decrease, whereas imports by OECD countries increased. The share of plastic waste exported to European countries including intra-EU trade, has increased by 15%.
The report outlines key trends and data over 2022 compared to 2017-2021 and has used as references mainly the UN Comtrade data and the Basel Convention national reports. This new data offers further insights in the medium to long term impacts of the new controls for plastic waste shipments.
New Waste Shipment Regulation Adopted
