What happens to New Zealand's Plastics Exports?

Abstract

Following China’s National Sword Programme, most of Aotearoa New Zealand’s (NZ) post-consumer plastics now go to Indonesia and Malaysia. In 2019, 40% of New Zealand’s ethylene went to Indonesia (15,000 tonnes) and just under 40% of our styrene went to Malaysia (16,000 tonnes). New Zealand also sends other plastic resins to a range of other countries, but these two countries are by far the most significant receiving countries overall.