Exports of waste plastic

To export regulated waste plastic you need a waste export licence.

Read this page before you apply for a waste export licence.

We regulate the export of waste plastic under the:

Plastic we regulate

Regulated waste plastic is:

plastic discarded, rejected or left over from an industrial, commercial, domestic or other activity
surplus to or a by-product of an industrial, commercial, domestic or other activity.

To qualify for a licence, you will need to show that your waste plastic:

is sorted into a single polymer
cleaned to remove contamination
processed into a form that is ready for remanufacture.

Find out more:

Plastic waste we don't regulate

You don’t need a licence to export waste plastic if it is:

waste plastic that requires a hazardous waste export permit under the Hazardous Waste Act (Regulation of Exports and Imports) 1989 (the Hazardous Waste Act)
exported solely for personal or domestic use, such as collectable soft drink bottle
imported into Australia on a temporarily basis and then exported again in the same container with the same trade description
a plastic product made from waste plastic that is ready to be used again, such as soft drink bottles made from recycled plastic
plastic pellets made from waste plastic.

Hazardous waste

Some waste exports are controlled under the Hazardous Waste Act. This law helps make sure Australia follows international rules for moving hazardous waste.

The following types of plastic may contain chemicals or additives that make them hazardous:

polystyrene (PS)
polycarbonate (PC)
acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
other plastics from e-waste, the automotive sector and building insulation (these may contain persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals such as brominated flame retardants).

Exports of waste plastic will require a hazardous waste permit instead of a waste export licence if any of the following apply:

it is not almost exclusively a single polymer or resin (some exclusions apply)
it is not almost free from contamination from other types of waste (for example glass, paper, scrap metal)
it is a halogenated polymer such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (some exclusions apply)
the importing country controls the material under the Basel Convention or related agreements
it contains constituents that make the waste plastic hazardous
it is processed engineered fuel (PEF)
it is not being exported for recycling.

You must:

confirm requirements and contamination thresholds with the Competent Authority in every country involved, including transit countries
return the waste to Australia at your own cost if export requirements are not met
hold a hazardous waste permit if your waste is regulated under the Hazardous Waste Act
note that a waste export licence under the RaWR Act does not authorise exports of waste regulated under the Hazardous Waste Act
if you are unsure whether your waste is hazardous, contact the Hazardous Waste team at hazardous.waste@nationalepa.gov.au.

Find out more about Exporting, importing or transiting hazardous waste.

Waste Plastic Exports List

A Waste Plastic Exports List has been published under the Plastic Rules:

Waste Plastic Exports List (PDF 183 KB)
Waste Plastic Exports List (DOCX 73 KB)

If you already hold a current hazardous waste export permit for the regulated material, you do not need to apply for a waste export licence.

Before we approve an export of regulated waste plastic covered by the Waste Plastic Exports List, you must:

Gather required information and documents.
Complete the Waste Plastic Exports List – notification of intention to export (DOCX 48 KB) form.
Email the form and documents to exportwaste@nationalepa.gov.au.

Contact us

WELD portal: if you have a WELD portal account, contact us via ‘My messages’

Email: exportwaste@nationalepa.gov.au

Phone: 1800 976 422