introduction Plastic is an all-encompassing word referring to a family of synthetic materials. While this report refers to plastic in general, there are different types of plastic with a range of different properties and applications, from polyethylene terephthalate in soft drink bottles to acrylonitrile butadiene styrene in toys. Table 7 in Appendix 2 highlights this diversity. FIGURE 4: PLASTIC PRODUCTION PER REGION, 2012
7%
5%
3% 24% 20%
16%
Latin America
Japan
NAFTA
Middle East, Africa
Rest of Asia
CIS
China
Europe
20% 5% Based on PlasticsEurope data [1]
Plastic’s strength, low weight and malleability makes it the preferred option for a range of applications such as cars, window frames, smartphones and packaging. The versatility and low price of plastic compared with alternatives is reflected in the rapid growth of the market for the material in a context of increased consumerism and drive for convenience. Plastic production has increased by 8.7% year on year from 1.7 million tonnes in 1950 to 288m tonnes in 2012. China is the world’s biggest producer, accounting for almost a quarter of output.1 Consumption is forecast to increase, with regions like Asia leading the growth. Plastic has many social benefits. Plastic packaging keeps food fresh and safe for human consumption and prevents food waste. Plastic helps save lives through a wide range of medical applications such as packaging for pharmaceuticals and manufacturing healthcare equipment. There is also large potential for future applications in renewable energy generation and improving transportation.2 In addition, the plastic industry makes an important contribution to employment. In 2012, the European plastic industry employed more than 1.4m people and earned revenues of ₏300 billion (or $390m), according to Plastics Europe.1 Studies commissioned by the plastic industry have found that plastic can help reduce some environmental impacts. A study commissioned by Plastics Europe found that if other materials were used instead of plastic in packaging, the packaging mass would on average increase by a factor of 3.6 and greenhouse gas emissions by a factor of 2.7 or 61m tonnes of C02-equivalent per year over the full life cycle, in particular during the use phase through decreased food losses and fuel use in transportation.12 The same study commissioned by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) found that the use of plastic for packaging applications in the United States had a greenhouse gas emissions benefit over other materials of 75.8m tonnes of C02-equivalent per year and a cumulative energy demand benefit of 1,110bn MJ.13 While these figures depend on a number of assumptions and could be debated, they illustrate the point that plastic has some benefits for the environment, in this case compared to using other packaging materials. Despite these positives, plastic has a range of negative environmental and social impacts throughout its lifecycle which must be properly managed. Negative impacts include the use of chemicals which can potentially escape in the environment and harm local populations, customers and workers, the aesthetic, health, economic and ecological impacts of plastic litter, and the consumption of non-renewable petroleum products as an ingredient and fuel in manufacturing.
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