US recycled exports beat decade-long record income

Exports of recycled commodities from the US soared more than 50% in 2021 compared the Covid-ravaged output of 2020 – achieving the highest earnings for a

What happened

According to the latest data from the Census Bureau and the US International Trade Commission, reported by ISRI, the value of recycled materials exported in 2021 was US$ 31.3 billion (EUR 27.6 million) up 51.3% year-on-year.

Why it matters

In terms of quantity, recycled commodity exports increased less significantly but were up 9% year-on-year in 2021 to 38.5 million tonnes, with the top 10 exporting markets being Mexico, India, Turkey, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Canada, South Korea, and Bangladesh. China, for many years the principal destination, was 11th because of the sharp contraction in recovered paper and fibre shipments.

Mexico was also the largest growth market, up from 1.97 million tonnes in 2020 to nearly 5.7 million tonnes last year.

Exports of recycled iron and steel (excluding stainless and alloy steel) increased 5% year-on-year by quantity in 2021 to nearly 16.7 million tonnes but increased 60% in dollar terms to US$ 6.8 billion. The increase was achieved despite fewer shipments to Turkey, which declined by 15% to less than 3.5 million tonnes last year.

This news brief is based on reporting published by Recycling International on 2022-02-15. The original report is linked below.