Plastic colonialism: Mexico’s waste imports from the US double in two years

Source: https://english.elpais.com/economy-and-business/2023-04-23/plastic-colonialism-mexicos-waste-imports-from-the-us-double-in-two-years.html

Author: VERÓNICA GARCÍA DE LEÓN ROBLES

Mexico is Latin America’s largest importer of plastic waste and the main destination for the plastic waste generated and exported by the United States. Sending plastic waste - which can take hundreds of years to degrade – to Mexico is not new, according to available official statistics. However, shipments doubled between 2019 and 2021 to 167,548 tons, even after an international agreement to regulate cross-border trade of this material was implemented.