Import/export HS code 391590: Plastic waste from other materials

Recyclable plastic scraps from various types of plastics not listed elsewhere

Why this is important if you are looking for potential customers in the UK:

  • It helps you understand the market size for your product in the UK.
  • It provides you with a list of potential leads who have bought similar products.

* UK only, last 24 months analysed

Imports by country

What this shows: Import market volume by exporter country into the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
Ireland 28,598,396
Germany 6,758,285
China 6,732,850
Belgium 6,136,870
Netherlands 3,622,475

Countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month volume, right side by second 12-month volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Ireland 15,860,069 12,738,327 -3,121,742
Germany 3,277,746 3,480,539 +202,793
China 1,772,095 4,960,755 +3,188,660
Belgium 3,244,020 2,892,850 -351,170
Netherlands 1,790,863 1,831,612 +40,749
United Arab Emirates 365,563 876,112 +510,549
France 580,921 523,968 -56,953
Nigeria 366,926 539,530 +172,604
Brazil 508,737 257,137 -251,600
United States 492,260 266,654 -225,606

Imports by country of origin

What this shows: Import volume by production origin country. Differences from exporter-country data can indicate re-export routes.

Top 5 values

Origin £
Ireland 28,296,381
Germany 7,188,940
China 6,860,915
Belgium 5,450,127
Netherlands 2,854,338

Country of origin rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Ireland 15,838,664 12,457,717 -3,380,947
Germany 3,606,543 3,582,397 -24,146
China 1,840,113 5,020,802 +3,180,689
Belgium 2,584,996 2,865,131 +280,135
Netherlands 1,657,200 1,197,138 -460,062
France 983,923 857,084 -126,839
United Arab Emirates 440,496 876,112 +435,616
United States 529,908 366,212 -163,696
Nigeria 366,926 517,572 +150,646
Brazil 545,544 297,345 -248,199

Importers across UK regions

What this shows: Number of importing companies by UK ITL2 region.

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 9
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 8
Greater Manchester 8
Inner London - West 7
Lancashire 6

UK regions rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: UK regions are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month importer count, right side by second 12-month importer count, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

UK region First 12m Second 12m Delta
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 7 6 -1
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 3 7 +4
Greater Manchester 6 4 -2
Inner London - West 2 5 +3
Lancashire 2 5 +3
Merseyside 4 3 -1
West Yorkshire 5 4 -1
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough 4 2 -2
Cheshire 3 4 +1
Northern Ireland 3 4 +1

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 33,339,030
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 26,403,607
Air transport 1,217,199
Other 265,953
Road transport 10,189

Transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 17,477,352 15,861,678 -1,615,674
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 12,211,954 14,191,653 +1,979,699
Air transport 678,564 538,635 -139,929
Other 8,640 257,313 +248,673
Road transport 6,941 3,248 -3,693

Import volume by port

What this shows: Import value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
Heysham 23,301,111
Immingham Docks 9,646,243
Felixstowe 6,129,094
Dover 4,401,667
Hull 4,095,456

Port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Heysham 12,331,361 10,969,750 -1,361,611
Immingham Docks 4,377,706 5,268,537 +890,831
Felixstowe 2,354,977 3,774,117 +1,419,140
Dover 1,706,742 2,694,925 +988,183
Hull 2,856,200 1,239,256 -1,616,944
London Gateway Port 1,190,856 2,869,163 +1,678,307
Liverpool Docks 2,516,933 876,883 -1,640,050
Southampton 289,866 1,029,654 +739,788
Fishguard 402,048 528,001 +125,953
London Heathrow Airport 242,617 379,750 +137,133

Importer companies by SIC division

What this shows: Industry breakdown (SIC divisions) of importing companies.

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Manufacture of rubber and plastic products 27
Waste collection, treatment and disposal activities; materials recovery 24
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 23
Remediation activities and other waste management services. 9
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 9

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-01 18
2025-11 33
2025-10 32
2025-09 26
2025-08 25

Top importers

What this shows: Companies with the highest number of months traded for this HS code.

Importer company size by revenue band

What this shows: Distribution of importers across company revenue bands.

Top 5 values

Revenue Companies
1m-15m 45
54m+ 38
0-1m 15
15m-54m 13
Other 7

Import seasonality

What this shows: Average monthly import pattern from historical data.

Exports by country

What this shows: Export market volume by destination country from the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
Netherlands 23,825,301
Spain 14,453,105
Germany 13,617,197
Turkey 13,353,735
France 11,071,797

Export countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Destination countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export volume, right side by second 12-month export volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Netherlands 11,385,541 12,439,760 +1,054,219
Spain 8,606,918 5,846,187 -2,760,731
Germany 7,878,992 5,738,205 -2,140,787
Turkey 10,496,527 2,857,208 -7,639,319
France 4,520,694 6,551,103 +2,030,409
Italy 5,400,129 2,776,730 -2,623,399
Belgium 3,782,431 3,043,344 -739,087
Indonesia 2,102,875 4,122,289 +2,019,414
Malaysia 2,777,083 1,766,762 -1,010,321
Portugal 1,370,762 2,144,950 +774,188

Exports by country of origin

What this shows: Export volume by production origin country. For re-exports, indicates where goods originated before UK export.

Top 5 values

Origin £
XI 1,502,586

Export origin countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
XI 719,725 782,861 +63,136

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 63,132,095
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 62,010,903
Other 1,502,586
Air transport 411,705

Export transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 40,273,039 22,859,056 -17,413,983
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 28,558,830 33,452,073 +4,893,243
Other 719,725 782,861 +63,136
Air transport 183,377 228,328 +44,951

Export volume by port

What this shows: Export value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
Immingham Docks 20,265,397
Felixstowe 20,104,479
Dover / Eurotunnel 17,601,771
London Gateway Port 15,373,542
London 11,960,259

Export port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Immingham Docks 9,611,952 10,653,445 +1,041,493
Felixstowe 10,869,264 9,235,215 -1,634,049
Dover / Eurotunnel 8,207,378 9,394,393 +1,187,015
London Gateway Port 7,860,676 7,512,866 -347,810
London 7,062,170 4,898,089 -2,164,081
Southampton 7,805,687 2,777,577 -5,028,110
Hull 4,353,447 2,284,410 -2,069,037
Harwich 3,711,290 1,550,014 -2,161,276
Liverpool Docks 2,698,935 1,888,443 -810,492
Thamesport 2,353,939 986,020 -1,367,919

Related HS codes

What this shows: Sibling or child HS codes in the same classification branch.

Quick facts

HS code: 391590

Coverage: United Kingdom, most metrics for the last 24 months

Description: Recyclable plastic scraps from various types of plastics not listed elsewhere