Countries export most of their plastic to China and Hong Kong

Germany, the US, Japan, Mexico and the UK (UK data not shown) are the biggest exporters of plastic waste to China, which takes half of the world's plastic waste. Data shown here is from 2016. Most plastic exported to Hong Kong, ends up in China, too. But as of January 1, 2018, China won't import most of this plastic anymore. The world doesn't yet have a way to deal with it, and plastic is piling up at waste centers and ports of entry.