The EU has been a net exporter of waste plastics for decades now. In other words, its member states export more plastic waste to countries outside the European Union than they import from third countries. However, the tide is in the process of turning. Recent figures from the EU statistical agency Eurostat show that import and export trends for "waste, parings and scrap of plastics" have converged significantly in recent months. In some cases, EU exports are just a few thousand tonnes higher than imports; the surplus used to top 200,000 tonnes at times.
Changes on both sides are contributing to this shift: stricter import restrictions in China and other countries outside Europe mean that the EU’s 27 member states have been shipping less and less waste plastics to these destinations for a few years now. At the start of 2021, more rigorous rules governing external trade in plastic waste took effect in the EU, as well....
