Mismanaged plastic waste shares worldwide 2019, by select country
region that generates the most mismanaged plastic waste is Asia, accounting for 65 percent of the global total.
Although many developing countries lack the infrastructures to properly manage plastic waste, wealthy countries still export their plastic waste to them. Turkey, for example, accounts for roughly 2.7 percent of global mismanaged plastic waste, yet received roughly 700,000 metric tons of plastic waste exports from the European Union in 2020.
India and China accounted for the largest shares of global mismanaged plastic waste in 2019, at 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The top 10 countries shown accounted for almost three quarters of global mismanaged plastic waste that year. The Although many developing countries lack the infrastructures to properly manage plastic waste, wealthy countries still export their plastic waste to them. Turkey, for example, accounts for roughly 2.7 percent of global mismanaged plastic waste, yet received roughly 700,000 metric tons of plastic waste exports from the European Union in 2020.