Germany ships less plastic waste abroad. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the export volume has halved within the last ten years. The main reason is import restrictions in Asian countries.
Germany is exporting less and less of its plastic waste abroad. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, around 745,100 tons of plastic waste were exported last year. According to the information, the amount has roughly halved in the past ten years (minus 51 percent).
“One reason for this is the import restrictions in some Asian countries for plastic waste,” the statisticians explained. In 2012, a good 1.5 million tons were exported from Germany. Compared to the previous year 2021, a decrease of nine percent was recorded.
The Federal Statistical Office shared the information on the occasion of World Oceans Day on June 8th. According to studies, plastic waste, including from western industrialized countries, often ends up in the world’s oceans. An estimated 270,000 tons of garbage are floating in the oceans.
Germany leads in waste export
According to statistics, most plastic waste was exported to the Netherlands last year. With almost 153,300 tons, 21 percent of all exported plastic waste went to the neighboring country, which has an important transhipment point for sea freight with the port of Rotterdam. Turkey (about 92,400 tons) and Poland (about 81,800 tons) came in second and third place among the most important customer countries.
In an EU-wide comparison, Germany is the largest exporter of plastic waste. However: The distance to other countries has shrunk significantly compared to previous years. According to the EU statistics authority Eurostat, the Netherlands were the second largest exporter last year with a good 701,500 tons, followed by Belgium with almost 476,600 tons.
UN wants plastic pollution contain
Negotiations by the United Nations for an international plastics agreement were recently held in Paris. By 2024, a convention is to be drawn up that will set out binding rules and measures that affect the entire life cycle of plastic. The UN wants to massively curb environmental pollution from plastic waste by 2040.
In Germany, too, a round table has been dealing with marine litter for seven years. Representatives of fisheries, shipping, industry and retail, scientists, environmental organizations and politicians are to develop recommendations for action against plastic pollution in the North and Baltic Seas.