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AlwaysUpvotesScience t1_j8rqxe3 wrote

Reply to comment by Darwins_Dog in [OC] Plastic waste emitted to the ocean per country by sometiara1

Yup, they import a lot of plastic goods. China and the US produce most of the plastic in the world but most of it is not disposed of in those countries, its exported.

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_AlreadyTaken_ t1_j8ryir4 wrote

Those plastics are mostly exported as part of products, not waste.

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AlwaysUpvotesScience t1_j8s5mln wrote

Correct, the US/China export goods and they get disposed of in other countries.

Not sure how that was unclear.

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vlsdo t1_j8t2odw wrote

Sort of, they're exported mostly as packaging and other short term uses. I keep track of my plastic waste and it's at least 90% packaging, if not more, and that's with me being conscious and trying to reduce it.

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Bndsfn2004 t1_j8tvfmd wrote

>Those plastics are mostly exported as part of products

Which eventually becomes...

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Altruistic-Tomato-66 t1_j8w3t6y wrote

> China and the US.

Not exactly. China, then Germany, then the US. But China produces more than the US, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Netherlands, and Japan combined. Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of plastic items during 2021.

China: US$35.5 billion (34.3% of exported plastic items)

Germany: $11.4 billion (11%)

United States: $7.8 billion (7.5%)

Italy: $3.7 billion (3.5%)

France: $3.4 billion (3.3%)

Poland: $3.1 billion (3%)

Netherlands: $2.77 billion (2.7%)

Japan: $2.4 billion (2.3%)

Mexico: $2.3 billion (2.2%)

Czech Republic: $2.18 billion (2.1%)

Taiwan: $2.13 billion (2.1%)

Hong Kong: $1.9 billion (1.8%)

South Korea: $1.73 billion (1.7%)

Belgium: $1.69 billion (1.6%)

Vietnam: $1.63 billion (1.6%)

https://www.worldstopexports.com/plastic-item-exports-country/

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AlwaysUpvotesScience t1_j8wajr9 wrote

That's value, not tons

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Altruistic-Tomato-66 t1_j8wrdh0 wrote

I think we can assume tonnage directly correlates to value, so much so that the positions of countries would very closely mirror the order above. Of course if you have source for tonnage, why not share it?

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