Economic viability requires higher recycling rates for imported plastic waste than expected

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Waste Management
• Circular Economy

Background:

• The environmental impact of plastic waste trade is complex and depends heavily on treatment methods.
• Current studies often use inaccurate recycling rates for imported plastic waste, failing to account for economic factors and varying recyclability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the minimum required recycling rate (RRR) for imported plastic waste to be financially viable.
• To analyze the economic factors influencing plastic waste trade and recycling across major importing nations.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of import prices, recycling costs, and recycled plastic values.
• Estimation of the financial break-even RRR for 22 leading importing countries and four plastic waste types (2013-2022).

Main Results:

• A minimum RRR of 63% is required for imported plastic waste to break even financially.
• This required RRR is 40 percentage points higher than the average domestic recycling rate (23%).

Conclusions:

• The significant gap between required and actual domestic recycling rates suggests underestimation of recycled plastic volumes in North-to-South trade.
• Country-specific RRRs can improve research and policy for mitigating the environmental impact of plastic waste trade.