Why: The social and environmental harms caused by plastic waste exports are clear. Actions to find markets for plastic waste materials collected in U.S. communities should not harm communities in other countries.  The only credible way to assure that the harms of plastic waste exports are stopped is to stop plastic waste exports altogether.

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Global Treaty Began on 1/1/2021: The Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments restrict exports of plastic waste. The U.S. must respect the laws of other countries and stop exporting plastic waste. 

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2019 Export Analysis: Why is the U.S. Still Offshoring Plastic Waste Around the World?

2018 Export Analysis: 157,000 Shipping Containers of U.S. Plastic Waste Exported to Countries with Poor Waste Management in 2018

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Background: Plastic waste has been exported and counted as “recycled” by industrialized countries for decades. Without documented traceability of the final fate of the plastic waste, bales of waste plastic collected from municipal and commercial recycling systems were shipped to buyers in foreign countries, many of which had no worker age and wage protections, no health and safety standards, few environmental regulations and no guarantee that the plastic waste would actually be recycled.

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Reporters have shown that cheap plastic waste imports hurt the economics of creating plastic waste collection systems in countries that need them most.