On February 6, 2023, the Australia-based Minderoo Foundation published the 2023 edition of its Plastic Waste Makers Index, a report on the world’s top 20 petrochemical companies responsible for producing the polymers that eventually become single-use plastics. The report includes data on single-use plastic production through 2021 as well as plastics recycling investment and capacity during the same period. New since the last index (FPF reported), this edition includes cradle-to-grave greenhouse gas emissions from single-use plastics in 2021 which they estimated at equivalent to the total emissions of the UK.
In the two years between 2019 and 2021, single-use plastic production from fossil fuels increased 6 million metric tons. “Roughly 1 extra kilogram for every person on the planet,” Minderoo states in a video about the report, corresponding to 15 times more growth than seen for recycled plastics. Up to approximately 22.8 kg of single-use plastic produced per person.
The report authors suggest three interventions with examples of how polymer producers, investors, policymakers, and others in the plastics value change can implement them: (i) limit fossil fuel plastic production and consumption, (ii) increase plastic products and materials that are designed for circularity and are circulated in practice, and (iii) eliminate plastic leakage to the environment across the lifecycle through environmentally sound waste management. Proposed actions include, harmonizing design standards for plastics (FPF reported also here), setting clear time bound targets for virgin plastic reduction (FPF reported also here), and setting policies to encourage a switch to more renewable systems (FPF reported also here).
Reference
Minderoo Foundation (February 6, 2023). “Plastic Waste Makers Index.”
Read more
Nick O’Malley (February 6, 2023). “Single-use plastics surge globally by one kilogram per person.” The Sydney Morning Herald
Olivia Roseane (February 6, 2023). “Single-use plastic production surged in 2021, despite growing awareness of environmental impact.” EcoWatch
