The UK Government must end its waste colonialism by banning plastic waste exports now
The UK produces the world’s second highest amount of plastic waste per person, with an estimated 1.7 billion items of plastic discarded weekly – averaging almost 90 billion items each year.
More than half of this plastic waste is incinerated, a volume which rose from 46 per cent in 2022 to 58 per cent in 2024.
This practice disproportionately affects those living in deprived neighbourhoods in the UK and pollutes our land and water.
Beyond incineration, just 17 per cent of plastic is recycled at home because the UK’s domestic infrastructure cannot cope with the escalating volumes of plastic consumed in the country.
The UK’s waste colonialism
Plastic waste being sorted in Istanbul, Türkiye
The UK’s plastic problem doesn’t stop at our shores. For years, the UK has been part of a global trade system that enables us to offload mountains of plastic waste onto other countries, both Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and non-OECD countries alike, where it fuels pollution, crime and serious health issues.
In June 2025, UK plastic waste exports to Asia surged, hitting 3.3 million kilos to Indonesia and 6.8 million kilos to Malaysia, while millions more kilos were routed through the EU, including 9.3 million kilos via the Netherlands and significant volumes through Germany, Spain and Belgium, potentially reaching non-OECD countries.
This practice has been described as waste colonialism, whereby developed countries in the Global North export their waste to the Global South, often disguised as trade, recycling or aid, effectively offloading waste onto nations lacking the infrastructure to manage it.
Instead of being recycled, EIA’s investigations have shown that much of our exported plastic is burnt, dumped or processed in unsafe conditions. Plastic waste workers and nearby communities – often children, refugees and the poorest communities – are exposed to toxic fumes and hazardous chemicals, as documented in Türkiye and Malaysia.
At the same time, UK exports clog up limited recycling capacity abroad, causing recycling capacity displacement, pushing aside locally generated waste and making the problem worse. This is not a solution, it is environmental injustice.
A broken system at home
Recent revelations highlight the UK’s failure to manage its own plastic waste, with a loophole allowing more than 600,000 tonnes to be exported each year.
In just two years, 21 recycling and processing plants have closed in the UK, costing the country a potential £2 billion industry and 5,000 jobs. Facilities such as Biffa’s Sunderland site and Viridor’s Avonmouth, Skelmersdale and Rochester plants shut due to cheap virgin and imported plastics undercutting domestic recycling, alongside the continued incentive to export rather than recycle at home.
The opportunity for real change
Emma Reynolds MP
Successive governments have promised action on plastic waste exports since 2019 but failed to deliver. The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) has previously urged the UK government to ban plastic waste exports by 2027, alongside reducing plastic use, boosting recycling and building a circular economy, but calls were rejected in early 2023.
The current Labour Government has committed to a circular economy strategy but has not yet proposed a plastic waste export ban as part of that vision. We now have a critical window to hold the Government accountable and demand real action.
A joint letter from EIA and supported by 53 allied NGOs was yesterday (23 October) sent to Emma Reynolds MP, Secretary of State for the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), calling for the implementation of a comprehensive, phased-in ban on UK plastic waste exports to both non-OECD and OECD countries while ensuring the UK takes full responsibility for managing and recycling its own plastic waste domestically.
A chance for leadership
This is not just a domestic issue, it’s about showing global leadership.
The UK has pledged to reduce plastic production and eliminate harmful plastics during negotiations for a Global Plastic Treaty, yet commitments on the plastic waste trade have not formed part of the picture.
A full plastic waste exports ban would help show that the UK is serious about committing to a more sustainable and just circular economy for plastics, providing reassurance that these are not just paper promises.
Other nations are already moving – the EU has effectively banned exports to non-OECD countries while countries such as Thailand and Indonesia have shut their doors to imported plastic waste.
It’s time for the UK to catch up and lead by example.
