For Immediate Release

Shipping Lines Need to Join CMA CGM in Refusing to Carry Plastic Waste to Developing Countries 

CMA CGM Making a Difference for Environmental Justice on Plastic Waste Pollution

12 June 2025. Seattle, WA, USA. Nice, France. At this week’s United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, some of the world’s largest shipping lines are touting their environmental credentials while continuing to be key facilitators of the global dumping of plastic waste on developing countries. This waste is exported from wealthy countries under the myth that it will be properly recycled, when in reality, large amounts end up as toxic micro- and microplastic pollution in our oceans. The Basel Action Network (BAN) is calling on all major companies to follow the laudable example of the French company CMA CGM Group, which instituted a policy of halting its shipments of plastic waste to developing countries in 2022 following the One Ocean Summit held that year.

In 2021, BAN asked nine top shipping lines to stop supporting the global plastic waste dumping industry. BAN was thrilled to announce that CMA CGM took up the challenge and announced such a ban, which went into effect on 1 June 2022.

"With the decision that it will no longer transport plastic waste on board its ships, CMA CGM will prevent this type of waste from being exported to destinations where sorting, recycling or recovery cannot be assured […]” wrote CMA CGM in a 2022 statement. “The Group has thus decided to take practical steps where it has the operational capability to do so, heeding the urgent calls made by certain NGOs.”

Since then, CMA CGM’s competitors have continued to transport plastic waste. It's time for all major shipping lines to finally stop supporting this destructive trade by refusing to ship plastic waste to developing countries, as well as Turkey and Mexico.

"CMA CGM showed true leadership by refusing to be complicit in profiting off the toxic plastic waste trade that poisons people and the planet,” said Christopher Hudak, Senior Policy Advisor at BAN. “Tragically, other major shipping companies have been all too happy to pick up the slack and keep cashing in on dumping dangerous plastic waste on developing countries.”

BAN’s analysis of CMA CGM’s US export data proves that their ban on Harmonized Schedule commodity code 3915 (scrap plastics) was a remarkable success, and feasible for other companies to implement. Before they imposed their ban, CMA CGM exported approximately 40,227 metric tons of HS Code 3915 plastic waste from the US alone in 2021. After the ban became effective on 1 June 2022, exports from the US by CMA CGM dropped to a trickle of around 1% of the 2021 US total and have remained at that level ever since.

CMA CGM’s dramatic 99% drop in exports of plastic waste from the US after its ban became effective in June 2022 proves that it’s feasible and effective for a major shipping company to implement such a ban from developed to developing countries, Turkey, and Mexico. (Basel Action Network, 2025)

The real-world positive impact of CMA CGM’s decision is staggering and highlights the power of shipping companies to play a significant role in putting an end to the sad chapter of waste colonialism. Assuming that CMA CGM’s US plastic waste exports had remained generally constant at 2021 levels, then the ban prevented approximately 119,261 metric tons of US plastic waste from being dumped in developing countries, or about 22,434 twenty-foot equivalent unit shipping containers.

Every day, CMA CGM’s competitors choose to ship hundreds of containers of toxic plastic waste from wealthy to developing countries. (Photo credit: Kelly on Pexels)

Globally, the volume of plastic waste exports from developed countries to developing countries remains a critical problem. Although exports to developing countries initially decreased after the Basel Convention Plastic Waste Amendments went into force in 2021, exports by OECD countries have recently increased to non-OECD countries, Turkey, and Mexico. For example, since 2019, global exports to Turkey are up 21%, exports to Indonesia are up 24%, and exports to Latin America are up 11%. And after declining dramatically from 2020 to 2021, EU exports to non-OECD countries and Turkey have climbed sharply to equal 2020 levels or higher. Meanwhile, Japanese exports to Asian neighbors have risen steadily since 2022, particularly to Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Every day, hundreds of shipping containers arrive in ports in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, or Turkey full of plastic waste allegedly destined for “recycling”. In reality, recycling in these countries is only partial at best, with residues commonly dumped or burned, leading to catastrophic microplastic and toxic chemical releases to air, water, and soil. Local communities often face serious health impacts from this pollution. Recycling facilities in these countries also consume large quantities of much-needed clean freshwater resources.

An illegal dump site burning in Selangor, Malaysia, composed largely of Italian plastic packaging waste, dumped next to shrimp aquaculture farms. (Basel Action Network, 2024)

While CMA CGM’s decision was the right choice morally, it also made smart business sense. In an era of increasing scrutiny and regulation of plastic waste trade, CMA CGM is mitigating potential legal exposure and reputational damage with the transboundary movement of plastic waste, while remaining profitable.

“Shipping companies can’t claim to be sustainable while exporting pollution,” said BAN’s Senior Policy Advisor Christopher Hudak. “The legal and public relations risks from shipping plastic waste far outweigh any short-term gains. It’s time for the leaders of every major shipping line to follow CMA CGM’s example and implement a ban on plastic waste exports to developing countries this summer.”

For more information:

Christopher Hudak, Esq.

Senior Policy Advisor

Basel Action Network

christopher.hudak@ban.org

Pui Yi Wong

Researcher

Basel Action Network

puiyi.wong@ban.org

About Basel Action Network

Founded in 1997, the Basel Action Network (BAN) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization of the United States, based in Seattle, WA. BAN is the world's only organization focused on confronting the global environmental justice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade and its devastating impacts. Today, BAN serves as the information clearinghouse on the subject of waste trade for journalists, academics, and the general public. Through its investigations, BAN uncovered the tragedy of hazardous electronic waste dumping in developing countries. For more information, see www.BAN.org.