Where The EU Exports Its Waste

The European Union exported 32.1 million tonnes of waste to non-EU countries in 2022, according to Eurostat. This is a slight decline from the 33.0 million tonnes of waste exports to these countries in 2021. Turkey was the primary destination country for EU waste that year with some 12.4 million tonnes sent there, accounting to 39 percent of the total exports of waste.

India received the second highest quantity of EU waste that year, receiving some 3.5 million tonnes in total. It was followed by the United Kingdom and Switzerland, with 2.0 and 1.6 million tonnes, respectively.

The EU agreed a deal in November that it would stop sending plastic waste to non-OECD countries from mid-2026. These rules are yet to be approved by the European Council and parliament. Critics argue this could lead to a rise in waste shipped to countries which are within the group such as Turkey, as reported by The Guardian.