Factsheets

Due to the design potential, diversity, flexibility, low cost, and durability of plastics, their global use now exceeds most other man-made materials in nearly all industrial sectors. Plastics have made possible a tremendous array of products and technological advances, providing many societal benefits. The high performance-to-weight ratio of plastics relative to alternative materials has reduced environmental footprints across the life cycle of several key sectors including transportation and food delivery. Despite the material value plastics hold, they often end up landfilled at end-of-life (EoL) and are a major source of marine litter. Plastic leakage out of the economy is due to the low cost of virgin plastic feedstocks and the challenges associated with recycling combinations of plastic resins, plastics with additives, and contaminated plastics. Design and reuse strategies along with policy instruments such as recycled content standards, virgin resin taxes, and tradable permits are needed to increase the service life of plastic products and plastic circularity. Impact investing is also needed for plastic waste reduction innovation and commercialization; sustainability criteria should be used to guide such investment to avoid greenwashing.¹

Patterns of Use

• Global plastic use was 20M t in 1966 and is estimated to more than triple from 460M t in 2019 to 1,231M t in 2060.^6,7 By 2060, the amount of LDPE and LLDPE used in packaging is expected to triple, and PP, HDPE, and PET used in packaging will more than double.⁶ 
• North America has the highest annual per capita plastic use in the world at 139 kg (not including fiber and rubber polymers), which is 19% of global plastics production and 21% of use.¹

Plastic Production, Use, Disposal and Leakage in the US, 2017¹

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Link to Flow Diagram

• One-third of plastics in the U.S. were used for packaging in 2017. Two-thirds of plastic went into other uses with varying lifetimes: short (disposable serviceware, trash bags, diapers), medium (clothing, tools, electronics, furniture), and long (large appliances, automobiles, buildings).¹
• About 30% of all the plastics ever made globally are still in use, and 60% are in landfills or loose in the environment.¹
• 12% of plastics in the U.S. in 2017 went into building and construction. Plastic use in buildings is increasing, primarily as PVC and HDPE used for piping, house wraps and siding, trim and window framing, and plastic-wood composites, as well as PUR used as insulation. Recovery of these materials at EOL is challenging as building demolition often produces mixed waste with low fractions of plastics, and PVC and PUR thermosets cannot be recycled easily.¹ 
• The transportation sector used over 4% of plastics in the U.S. in 2017, primarily in the production of vehicles. The amount of plastic in vehicles increased to 8.6% of the material weight of North American light vehicles in 2017. The large variety of plastics used and the cost of collection, separation, and cleaning often exceeding virgin material cost results in most automotive plastics being landfilled at EoL.¹
• Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing concern, with a global annual growth rate of 3%–4%. 2.6Mt of selected consumer electronics appeared in MSW in the U.S. in 2017 with plastic contents of 20% to 33%. If efficient recovery methods become available, up to 2.5Mt of polycarbonates can be recovered from e-waste globally each year.¹

Environmental Impacts

• Over 99% of plastic resin produced globally is derived from fossil-based feedstocks. This production, including both feedstock and manufacturing energy requirements, represents around 8% of global annual oil and gas use.^1,7
• Projections based on current growth rates indicate that life-cycle GHG emissions from plastics could reach 15% of the global carbon budget by 2050.⁹
• The U.S. produced more plastic waste than any other nation in 2016, generating 42Mt of plastic waste total and 130 kg of plastic waste per capita per year.⁷
• In 2019, 86% of plastic waste managed as MSW in the U.S. went to landfill. This landfilled plastic had an average market value of $7.2B. Only 5% of plastic waste was recycled and 9% was combusted.¹⁰ 
• In 2019, 9% of global plastic waste was recycled, 19% was incinerated, about 50% was sent to sanitary landfills, and 22% was openly burned, sent to unsanitary dumpsites, or leaked into the environment.⁶
• Rapidly developing middle-income countries in Asia, which often have inadequate collection systems, are responsible for an estimated 80% of global leakage. The U.S. and Europe, which have advanced collection systems, leak 170,000 t of plastics into the ocean annually.¹¹
• The flow of plastic into the ocean is projected to nearly triple by 2040. Without considerable action to address plastic pollution, 50 kg of plastic will enter the ocean for every meter of shoreline.¹²
• Ocean plastic pollution impacts over 800 species of marine organisms, affecting all sea turtle species, 40% of cetacean species, and 44% of marine bird species.¹²
• Plastic bottles and disposable diapers take over 450 years to biodegrade in oceans.¹³
• If current practices continue, by 2050, there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight.¹⁴

Solutions

• The UN’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, in conjunction with 175 nations, has committed to the signing of a globally binding plastics agreement by the end of 2024.¹⁵
• U.S. EPA created a National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution with three key objectives: the reduction of pollution during plastic production, the improvement of post-use materials management, and preventing trash and micro/nanoplastics from entering into the environment.¹⁶
• A circular economy for plastics is one in which plastic remains in service and maintains its material value.¹⁷ Reuse is a key circular economy strategy that should be encouraged.¹
• By 2040, a circular economy could result in an 80% reduction in the volume of plastics entering oceans each year, a 25% reduction in GHG emissions, savings of $200B per year, and the creation of 700,000 additional jobs.¹⁸
• Redesigning products to increase recyclability can help increase plastic circularity. For example, using thermoplastic resin as opposed to thermoset resin in wind turbine blades can make them recyclable.^19,20
• Policy instruments that can reduce plastic packaging pollution and increase plastic recycling rates include command-and-control policies (e.g., take-back mandates, landfill/disposal bans, product/material bans, and recycled content standards) as well as market-based policies (e.g., advanced disposal fees, deposit-refund systems, pay-as-you-throw programs, product taxes, virgin resin taxes, and tradable permits).¹
• While the 10 recycling refund states only account for 27% of the U.S. population, they account for 47% of all the packaging recycled and 51% of all beverage containers recycled.²¹
• Taxes on specific plastic polymers and specific uses of plastics can lead to reductions in plastic consumption. For example, in 2002, Ireland introduced a €0.15 plastic bag tax (raised to €0.22 in 2006), leading to an immediate 90% reduction in the use of plastic bags.²²
• Combustion and pyrolysis solutions for energy recovery and fuels can address plastic waste but are problematic with regard to carbon emissions.¹