{"chart":{"citation":"United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023)","originalChartUrl":"https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-waste-trade","selection":["China","United States","Germany","Japan","Malaysia"]},"columns":{"Plastic waste exports":{"titleShort":"Plastic waste exports","titleLong":"Plastic waste exports","descriptionShort":"Amount of plastic waste a country exports to other countries, measured in tonnes per year.","descriptionKey":"- Data covers plastic waste classified under HS code 3915 ('waste, parings and scrap, of plastics') in UN Comtrade trade statistics. This includes waste from different polymer types such as polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).\n- Data includes all transport methods: air, sea, road, rail, inland waterways, and cases where the transport mode was not specified.\n- Data includes re-exports (when a country imports plastic waste and subsequently exports it).\n- This data may not capture all plastic waste trade. Some plastic waste is traded under other codes (such as HS 3825 for refuse-derived fuels), and discrepancies can exist between what exporting and importing countries report.\n- Global plastic waste trade patterns shifted following China's 2018 import ban and the Basel Convention amendments that took effect in 2021, which require prior informed consent for most plastic waste shipments.","shortUnit":"t","unit":"tonnes","timespan":"1988-2024","type":"Numeric","owidVariableId":1108405,"shortName":"export_total_mot","lastUpdated":"2025-09-25","nextUpdate":"2026-11-30","citationShort":"United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with minor processing by Our World in Data","citationLong":"United Nations Comtrade Database (2025); United Nations Comtrade Database (2023) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. “Plastic waste exports” [dataset]. United Nations Comtrade Database, “Comtrade Database” [original data].","fullMetadata":"https://api.ourworldindata.org/v1/indicators/1108405.metadata.json"}},"dateDownloaded":"2026-10-31"}