Plastic contributes 3.4% (1.8 billion tonnes) of global greenhouse gas emissions every year, more than either the Aviation (1.9%) and Shipping (1.7%) industries, according to a new report.
The report by plastic waste prevention startup CleanHub also found that 60% of plastic emissions come from its production, 29% from distribution, and 11% from disposal.
The other key findings from the report are that 93% of plastics are made with fossil fuels, with 14% of all extracted oil going towards it, and 9% (31,770,000 million tonnes) of plastic is recycled annually.
The majority of plastic emissions come from the production process (60%), according to the data, and most plastic manufacturing is done in China. Almost 32% of all plastic is made in China, the report says, compared to 18% in North America and 15% in Europe.
There’s never been a more vital time to raise awareness to the dangers of plastic pollution.
Plastic disposal accounts for 11% of its overall emissions, especially as only 9% of plastic globally is recycled. According to the data, this drops to 4% in the US and, of the remaining plastic, 73% is sent to a landfill – an estimated 27 million tonnes per year – 19% is incinerated, and 4% is “mismanaged” or uncollected.
Commenting on the findings, Nikki Stones, Vice President of Marketing at CleanHub, said: “With a carbon footprint as large as aviation, over a million species at risk of extinction, and microplastics now found in humans, the scale of plastic’s impact is shocking and must be addressed.
“There’s never been a more vital time to raise awareness to the dangers of plastic pollution, as well as to promote and use sustainable practices to produce and recycle it more effectively.”
