UK Exported 675,000 Tonnes of Plastic Waste in 2025, Its Largest Amount in Eight Years, With 139,000 Tonnes Shipped to Turkey

The findings reignite concerns over Britain's role in waste colonialism, as the UK exported 675,000 tonnes of plastic waste in 2025, its largest amount in eight years, with 139,000 tonnes shipped to Turkey. EU exports to Turkey rose 19% to over 500,000 tonnes. Analysis by the Environmental Investigation Agency found 13 British companies sent 545 shipments totalling 52,000 tonnes to the Adana hub between May 2021 and July 2024. Sedat Gündoğdu, a marine biologist at Sabancı University, found samples downstream were 10 times more polluted than upstream and called for a ban on plastic imports to Turkey.

Amy Youngman of the EIA said the UK had created a structural imbalance that passes harm to communities in Turkey. A 2021 Greenpeace investigation found British supermarket waste dumped and burned in Adana.