Author: Jared Paben
The decline in U.S. scrap plastic exports accelerated for the second year in a row, according to recently released U.S. Census Bureau trade data. The bureau recently published trade data for December, allowing Plastics Recycling Update to analyze the full-year 2022 data and compare it with prior years. The data shows U.S. shipments of recovered plastic to foreign destinations totaled 952 million pounds in 2022, down 22% from the prior year. The 2021 export number was down 11% from 2020, which was down 6% from 2019.