Why is the Netherlands a major player in the global plastic waste market?

Despite its small size, the Netherlands is one of the world's largest exporters of plastic waste per capita. Thanks to the Port of Rotterdam and a strong trade position, the Netherlands acts as a major transit country – including for shipments with a shady origin and destination. A lack of enforcement makes the system vulnerable to illegal export, with waste often ending up in countries with weak environmental regulations. This article shows how the Netherlands unintentionally contributes to the world

Lucía Fraile

23 Jun 2025

The plastic waste trade is a major global business involving large corporations, small traders, waste brokers, law enforcement agencies and governments from all over the world. In 2023, the reported global export of plastic waste was worth approximately 6.13 billion US dollars, a profitability that the Basel Institute of Governance equates with other major areas of crime such as human trafficking. The dynamics within the sector are clear: plastic waste shipments often flow from high-income countries to low-income countries*. The receiving destinations, which are not equipped with adequate and/or sufficient waste management infrastructure, are often overwhelmed with waste and must manage foreign exports on top of their own domestic waste. In this article, we explain why the waste trade remains so profitable for some actors and why specific countries like the Netherlands play a key role. Most of these morally questionable plastic waste flows have been legally permitted in the past. Experts estimate that about 25% of the global trade in plastic waste is illegal and remains under the radar of law enforcement agencies and official reports. Illegal waste trade is the second most profitable environmental crime in the world, after wildlife trafficking. This is what is known as a high-yield, low-risk crime. Waste usually has a negative economic value because it incurs costs for the parties producing it if they want to manage it safely and sustainably. Therefore, there are incentives to find ways to reduce those management costs by outsourcing the procedure. Shipping the waste to countries with less stringent environmental standards or simply dumping it illegally out of sight of the authorities is the main modus operandi. Exporting illegal plastic waste is as simple as changing a number in the shipment's registration code and hoping customs does not check it. As the World Customs Organization stated in their Illicit Waste Report, high profitability is driven by weak enforcement of regulations at many trading points around the world. This allows large quantities of recyclable and non-recyclable plastic waste to be misclassified and exported outside the European Union to Türkiye and Southeast Asia. Such practices often lead "to a lack of environmentally sound management, posing serious pollution risks to air, water and soil". As many environmental justice advocates have shown, European plastic is often burned in illegal dumpsites in countries like Malaysia and Türkiye. What is the role of the Netherlands? The Netherlands is one of the highest-earning countries in the world. The Dutch economy is strong and highly trade-oriented thanks to its privileged geographical position in the heart of the EU, with access to international waters and good trade relations. Despite its small size, the Netherlands is one of the largest exporters of plastic waste per capita in the world and ranks in the top 5 of countries exporting total plastic waste every year. The latest reports on this topic by scientists at Utrecht University show that a total of approximately 2,000 kilotonnes (kilotonne = 1 million kilos) of plastic waste ends up on Dutch territory annually. For reference, that would be roughly the same volume as 3.8 billion litres of water, more than 1,510 Olympic swimming pools full of plastic waste. Figure 1. Dutch import and export of plastic waste in 2017. In this figure, elaborated by Lobelle et al. (2023), it is visible how large the Dutch PW flows are and what part of them is reported. In 2022, roughly 18.5% of globally imported plastic waste went to the Netherlands, a striking share considering that Dutch people currently make up no more than 0.24% of the total world population. The majority of the waste imported by the Netherlands comes from Europe, mainly from Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France. Yet, the final destination of Dutch imported plastic waste is generally unknown and traceability is weak. In addition to the estimate that 25% of plastic waste is traded illegally, there are notable gaps in official data. For example, data from 2017 show that a high percentage of Dutch plastic waste (both imported and nationally produced) was blatantly unreported and its location has remained a mystery to official sources. Experts from Rijkswaterstaat state: “We know that the data is not complete and that there are major gaps in it…we

Most of these morally questionable plastic waste flows have been legally permitted in the past. Experts estimate that about 25% of the global trade in plastic waste is illegal and remains under the radar of law enforcement agencies and official reports. Illegal waste trade is the second most profitable environmental crime in the world, after wildlife trafficking. This is what is known as a high-yield, low-risk crime. Waste usually has a negative economic value because it incurs costs for the parties producing it if they want to manage it safely and sustainably. Therefore, there are incentives to find ways to reduce those management costs by outsourcing the procedure. Shipping the waste to countries with less stringent environmental standards or simply dumping it illegally out of sight of the authorities is the main modus operandi. Exporting illegal plastic waste is as simple as changing a

What is the role of the Netherlands?

The Netherlands is one of the highest-earning countries in the world. The Dutch economy is strong and highly trade-oriented thanks to its privileged geographical position in the heart of the EU, with access to international waters and good trade relations. Despite its small size, the Netherlands is one of the largest exporters of plastic waste per capita in the world and ranks in the top 5 of countries exporting total plastic waste every year. The latest reports on this topic by scientists at Utrecht University show that a total of approximately 2,000 kilotonnes (kilotonne = 1 million kilos) of plastic waste ends up on Dutch territory annually. For reference, that would be roughly the same volume as 3.8 billion litres of water, more than 1,510 Olympic swimming pools full of plastic waste.

Figure 1. Dutch import and export of plastic waste in 2017. In this figure, elaborated by Lobelle et al. (2023), it is visible how large the Dutch PW flows are and what part of them is reported.

In 2022, roughly 18.5% of globally imported plastic waste went to the Netherlands, a striking share considering that Dutch people currently make up no more than 0.24% of the total world population. The majority of the waste imported by the Netherlands comes from Europe, mainly from Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France. Yet, the final destination of Dutch imported plastic waste is generally unknown and traceability is weak.

In addition to the estimate that 25% of plastic waste is traded illegally, there are notable gaps in official data. For example, data from 2017 show that a high percentage of Dutch plastic waste (both imported and nationally produced) was blatantly unreported and its location has remained a mystery to official sources. Experts from Rijkswaterstaat state: “We know that the data is not complete and that there are major gaps in it…we do not know what happens to the plastic waste flows…we cannot explain the differences between the figures from official sources” (interview with advisor circular economy and waste from Rijkswaterstaat, 2 June 2025). Furthermore, the Netherlands reported that plastic waste imports represent more than 300% of their remaining domestic recycling capacity.

According to the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), illegally traded plastic waste usually leaves the country mixed with other materials or mislabelled as other types of goods, mostly second-hand items, new material or already (partially) processed recyclable waste.

Although exports generally declare that only recyclable plastic waste is exported outside Dutch borders, experts in this field state that more than 60% of the plastic waste imported by Türkiye is not recyclable (interview with PhD Marine Biology and expert in international plastic waste trade, 4 April 2025). A worrying figure considering that the country imported more than 33 million kilos of Dutch plastic waste in 2024. Nonetheless, the low prices paid by Turkish importers make it profitable to export large quantities of plastic waste for very little money. So even if the share of the cargo that can be recycled (and thus has a positive economic value) is limited, they can still make a profit. Still, Türkiye is not alone and it is likely also happening in countries outside the OECD area, which accounted for more than 40% of all Dutch plastic waste exports in 2024 (se

Figure 2. Dutch plastic waste exports 2019-2024 based on ComTrade Data.

Why does the Netherlands import so much plastic waste?

This is due to two main factors:

Firstly, the Port of Rotterdam. This port in the south of the country is the busiest port in Europe and reportedly one of the main points of departure for waste shipments outside the European Union. Therefore, in many cases, the Netherlands is not the final destination for this waste, but rather a transit port on its way outside the European Union. Approximately 40% of total Dutch plastic waste exports go to Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Türkiye. However, data on exact exports vary widely between (official) sources. Furthermore, containers often change hands multiple times during their time in port, further complicating the traceability of PW shipments. The circular economy & waste advisor of Rijkswaterstaat stated that his agency is unable to explain the difference between the sources, “the port of Rotterdam is a black hole, we do not know what happens inside, and Rijkswaterstaat is not in active communication

Figure 3. Dutch plastic waste exports 2020-2025. In this figure, elaborated by Basel Action Network (2025), the volume of monthly Dutch waste exports to various areas is shown.

Secondly, despite the development of additional regulations on this topic, the lack of law enforcement allows both legal and illegal exports of plastic waste to easily pass through the port without being checked. In the Dutch case, law enforcement agencies and government bodies agree that the risk profiling system, which determines whether a shipment is inspected, is ineffective and relies too heavily on criminals 'looking' suspicious. Customs in the Port of Rotterdam carries out a total of 4,800 inspections on waste shipments annually, of which only 13% are on plastic waste shipments. This equates to just under an average of 2 inspections per day of the year. Given the scale of the trade, this seems insufficient. Yet, customs has so far refused to cooperate with this investigation.

Looking forward

Meanwhile, the plastics market continues to grow at an accelerated rate and European exports to non-OECD countries have grown by 36% over the last two years. Yet, the situation has recently taken a turn. In May 2024, a new set of international rules was approved within the European Union, the Waste Shipment Regulation, regarding the transboundary shipment of waste. Enforcement of the new laws is estimated to begin in 2026. Previous legislation allowed exports of PW outside the OECD area to facilities that could demonstrate they managed their imports in an environmentally friendly manner. However, the new regulatory framework will ban all exports of plastic outside the OECD area, with the aim of stopping all shipments to Southeast Asia. Other measures include setting up an online international database of waste shipments to improve the traceability of traded waste. The tighter regulation of PW trade with countries outside the O

Controversially, the European Union has relied heavily on outsourcing plastic waste outside its borders and currently does not have the recycling capacity to keep up with managing its own domestic plastic waste. Furthermore, in the Netherlands alone, 7 plastic recycling companies closed in 2024. More than ever, Dutch PW exporting companies are in a stranglehold. On the one hand, they hope that the implementation of the waste shipment regulation is delayed (interview with CEO of the Netherlands' largest exporter of plastic waste, 10 April 2025). On the other hand, there is no alternative destination or solution for continuing to export waste outside the OECD area, making them fear a market collapse. It is now the job of Dutch law enforcement agencies to effectively implement the new regulations and better control legal shipments and detect illegal shipments. At the same ti

Disclaimer: Out of respect for the privacy of our sources, Fair Resource Foundation has decided not to disclose the names of the interviewed participants in this study.