Waste: Exports
(asked on 16th October 2023) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will list the quantities of waste exported in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022, broken down by receiving country.
Answered by
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The top ten waste types exported from the UK in 2020, 2021 and 2022, alongside the top ten destinations for those waste types, are represented in the three tables below. The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it in full would incur disproportionate costs.
This dataset has been obtained from information provided by exporters to His Majesty's Revenue and Customs. This data is publicly available at https://www.uktradeinfo.com/ .
2020 | |||
Rank | Waste type | Waste exported (KT) | Top destination country (in parentheses: quantity of waste exported in KT; proportion of total waste type exported from the UK as %) |
1 | Iron & steel waste and scrap | 6,826 | Turkey (2,394KT; 35.1%); Pakistan (997KT; 14.6%); Egypt (742KT; 10.9%); Bangladesh (205KT; 3.0%); Saudi Arabia (173KT; 2.5%) |
2 | Paper and paperboard waste | 3,780 | India (979KT; 22.8%); Thailand (561KT; 13.0%); Turkey (491KT; 11.4%); Netherlands (474KT; 11.0%); Malaysia (401KT; 9.3%) |
3 | Plastic waste and scrap | 537 | Turkey (210KT; 39.0%); Malaysia (65KT; 12.2%); Poland (38KT; 7.0%); Netherlands (38KT; 7.0%); Spain (31KT; 5.8%) |
4 | Aluminium waste and scrap | 436 | India (122KT;27.8%); China (76KT; 17.4%); Thailand (18KT; 4.1%); Republic of Korea (34KT; 7.8KT); Italy (30KT; 6.9%) |
5 | Glass cullet waste | 298 | Portugal (83KT; 27.2%); Belgium (83KT; 27.2%); Netherlands (16KT; 5.3%); Spain (15KT; 5.2%); confidential country (13KT; 4.2%) |
6 | Worn clothing and textiles | 281 | Ghana (57KT; 20.4%); Pakistan (42KT; 15.1%); United Arab Emirates (34KT; 12.1%); Ukraine (26KT; 9.2%); Poland (24KT; 8.5%) |
7 | Residual products of the chemical or allied industries | 181 | Norway (151KT; 83.5%); Netherlands (22KT; 12.0%); Germany (8KT; 4.4%); New Caledonia (0.04KT; 0.02%); Canada (0.02KT; 0.01%) |
8 | Rubber waste | 138 | India (113KT; 81.6%); Pakistan (11KT; 7.6%); Japan (8KT; 6.0%); Netherlands (2KT;1.6%); France (1KT; 0.6%) |
9 | Animal waste | 108 | Ireland (36KT; 33.5%); France (23KT; 21.0%); Netherlands (17KT; 15.4%); Germany (13KT; 11.7%); Bulgaria (9KT; 8.1%) |
10 | Residues of starch manufacture and similar | 76 | Ireland (62KT; 81.9%); Denmark (8KT; 10.8%); Spain (4KT; 4.7%); Netherlands (2KT; 2.1%); Philippines (0.3KT; 0.4%) |
11 | Residues from food industry (vegetable waste) | 26 | Ireland (26KT; 98.5%); Qatar (0.1KT; 0.3%); Netherlands (0.1KT; 0.3%); Norway (0.1KT; 0.2%); France (0.02KT; 0.1%) |
2021 | |||
Rank | Waste type | Waste exported (KT) | Top destination country (in parentheses: quantity of waste exported in KT; proportion of total waste type exported from the UK as %) |
1 | Iron & steel waste and scrap | 8,595 | Turkey (2,345KT; 27.3%); Egypt (1,491KT; 17.3%); Bangladesh (675KT; 7.9%); Italy (496KT; 5.8%); United States of America (285KT; 3.3%) |
2 | Paper and paperboard waste | 4,298 | India (979KT; 22.8%); Thailand (561KT; 13.0%); Turkey (491KT; 11.4%); Netherlands (474KT; 11.0%); Malaysia (401KT; 9.3%) |
3 | Residual products of the chemical or allied industries | 1,497 | Sweden (617KT; 41.2%); Netherlands (346KT; 23.1%); Germany (106KT; 7.1%); Cyprus (104KT; 7.0%); Norway (99KT; 6.6%) |
4 | Aluminium waste and scrap | 560 | India (174KT; 31.2%); Hong Kong (43KT; 7.6%); Thailand (32KT; 5.8%); Republic of Korea (30KT; 5.4%); Switzerland (28KT; 5.0%) |
5 | Plastic scrap and waste | 468 | Turkey (123KT; 26.2%); Netherlands (101KT; 21.6%); Poland (52KT; 11.1%); Spain (37KT; 7.9%); Italy (18KT; 3.9%) |
6 | Glass cullet waste | 367 | Portugal (185KT; 50.4%); Belgium (72KT; 19.6%); Netherlands (48KT; 13.2%); Spain (33KT; 8.9%); Germany (11KT; 2.9%) |
7 | Worn clothing and textiles | 358 | Ghana (63KT; 17.7%); Pakistan (49KT; 13.7%); Ukraine (46KT; 12.9%); United Arab Emirates (42KT; 11.7%); Poland (41KT; 11.6%) |
8 | Rubber waste | 296 | India (194KT; 65.4%); Turkey (61KT; 20.4%); Portugal (13KT; 4.3%); Pakistan (10KT; 3.2%); Morocco (5KT; 1.7%) |
9 | Slag, ash and residues containing metals (excl. those from the manufacture of iron or steel) | 99 | Belgium (32KT; 32.1%); Norway (22KT; 22.1%); Netherlands (21KT; 21.4%); Germany (12KT; 12.2%); Canada (8KT; 8.0%) |
10 | Mineral fuels | 86 | Denmark (58KT; 67.6%); Greece (8KT; 9.2%); France (7KT; 8.3%); Belgium (6KT; 6.8%); Ireland (3KT; 3.4%) |
2022 | |||
Rank | Waste type | Waste exported (KT) | Top destination country (in parentheses: quantity of waste exported in KT; proportion of total waste type exported from the UK as %) |
1 | Iron & steel waste and scrap | 8,241 | Turkey (1,840KT; 22.3%); Egypt (1,396KT; 16.9%); India (1,241KT; 15.1%); Bangladesh (730KT; 8.9%); Italy (290KT; 3.5%) |
2 | Paper and paperboard waste | 4,087 | India (1,124KT; 27.5%); Vietnam (525KT; 12.8%); Netherlands (454KT; 11.1%); Turkey (376KT; 9.2%); Malaysia (363KT; 8.9%) |
3 | Residual products of the chemical or allied industries | 1,569 | Sweden (709KT; 45.2%); Netherlands (365KT; 23.3%); Norway (101KT; 6.4%); Denmark (89KT; 5.7%); Cyprus (36KT; 2.3%) |
4 | Aluminium waste and scrap | 632 | India (213KT; 33.6%); Hong Kong (98KT; 15.5%); Germany (54KT; 8.5%); Thailand (41KT; 6.4%); Pakistan (20KT; 3.1%) |
5 | Plastic waste and scrap | 483 | Netherlands (120KT; 24.8KT); Turkey (88KT; 18.3%); Belgum (38KT; 7.9%); Poland (31KT; 6.4%); Spain (23KT; 4.7%) |
6 | Glass cullet waste | 418 | Portugal (222KT; 53%); Netherlands (67KT; 15.9%); Belgium (59KT; 14.0%); Spain (25KT; 5.9%); Italy (19KT; 4.5%) |
7 | Worn clothing and textiles | 418 | United Arab Emirates (75KT; 18.1%); Ghana (53KT; 12.6%); Pakistan (52KT; 12.4%); Poland (51KT; 12.3%); Ukraine (37KT; 8.8%) |
8 | Rubber waste | 395 | India (297KT; 75.2%); Turkey (43KT; 10.9%); Pakistan (10KT; 2.6%); Portugal (8KT; 1.9%); Denmark (6KT; 1.4%) |
9 | Copper waste and scrap | 253 | China (62KT; 24.5%); India (38KT; 14.9%); Germany (35KT; 13.9%); Japan (11KT; 4.2%); France (11KT; 4.2%) |
10 | Mineral fuels | 118 | Denmark (94KT; 79.6%); Finland (7KT; 5.6%); France (7KT; 5.6%); Ireland (4KT; 3.4%); Ireland (4KT; 3.4%); Belgium (4KT; 3.0%) |