UK Plastic Recycling Industry Collapses as Exports Surge 84%

As of October 9th, 2025, the UK's plastic recycling industry, potentially worth £2 billion and employing 5,000 people, is in crisis. In the past 2 years, 21 plastic recycling and processing factories across the country have shut down due to the scale of plastic waste exports, the cheap price of virgin plastic, and an influx of cheap plastic from Asia.

Britain's exports of plastic waste to developing countries increased by a staggering 84% in the first half of 2023. Critics say this is an unethical and irresponsible form of "waste imperialism." The UK's exports to Indonesia, a country already struggling with a plastic pollution crisis, amounted to more than 24,000 tonnes in the first 6 months of the year. The total plastic waste exports during this period reached 317,747 tonnes.

Experts warn that exporting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of plastic waste to countries without the capability to process it properly increases the risk of serious environmental pollution and puts the lives of waste workers at risk. A recent investigation revealed that two people are crushed, ripped, or burned to death in Turkey's recycling sector every month, and the UK was the largest exporter of plastic waste to that country in 2023.

Industry leaders are calling for the government to close the loophole that makes it cheaper for companies to export plastic rather than keep it in the UK. They argue that keeping the waste material within the country, where it can be cleaned, sorted, processed, and turned into recycled products, is better for the environment and creates more jobs and growth.