Plastics have become one of the most ubiquitous materials in our everyday lives. Their remarkable properties have made them essential in a wide range of sectors, generating a number of benefits for society and for the environment. Plastics are used to protect or preserve foodstuffs, helping to reduce food waste, and to build lighter and more fuel efficient vehicles, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Plastics are now one of the most important material categories by volume, with global production surpassing that of other key products such as paper and aluminium.

Where possible, currency has been reported in USD throughout the document. Many of the financials are reported over a large timeframe. Conversion rates are for those reported at the time of writing.

Plastics are a remarkable family of materials with properties which have allowed them to be applied in a wide range of sectors, including packaging (its most common application by weight), the automotive sector, electronic and electrical equipment, textiles and the construction sector. Global plastics production has risen steeply from modest levels of approximately two million tonnes in the 1950s to approximately 407 million tonnes in 2015.

This chapter sets out the motivation for the development of this report. It highlights the rapid growth in plastics production and use that has taken place in recent decades, and notes the increase in plastic waste generation and pollution that has occurred as a consequence. The risks associated with continued business as usual growth in plastics use are then discussed, and improved waste collection and recycling systems are identified as a key means of addressing the problem. The chapter concludes by highlighting the role that stronger and more stable markets for waste and recycled plastics could play in boosting recycling rates.

This chapter summarises current patterns of plastics production, the structure of markets for primary plastics, and the different types of plastics that are produced. It highlights the rapid growth in the production and use of plastics during the last half century, and describes the current distribution of production across different regions. The most widely produced polymers of plastic are also introduced, along with their key characteristics and main sectoral applications. Finally, this chapter concludes with a discussion of bio-based and biodegradable plastics, and the opportunities and risks that these present.

This chapter sets out the environmental benefits of plastics recycling and summarises current patterns of plastics waste generation and recycling. Lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduced leakage of plastics into the natural environment are highlighted as the two key environmental benefits of increased plastics waste collection and recycling. Plastics waste generation and recycling rates are discussed in the context of different regions, product categories, polymers, and waste streams, and data is presented for each. Finally, the chapter concludes with an assessment of the key drivers of plastics recycling, and how these might drive higher recycling rates in the future.

This chapter presents an overview of the plastics recycling industry. It begins with an overview of the recycled plastics value chain, from initial waste collection and sorting activities through to the production of recycled plastics suitable for re-introduction into the economy. The second part of the chapter then looks at each stage of the value chain in more detail. The market structure associated with plastics waste collection, sorting, and reprocessing is described along with the key actors and technologies involved in each of these activities

This chapter focusses on markets for waste and recycled plastics. It begins with a stocktake of the key sources of information regarding trade in waste plastics, and notes that trade volumes represent a relatively small proportion (around 4%) of overall plastic waste generation. The major exporters and importers of plastics waste are then discussed alongside the potential implications of recent Chinese restrictions on the import of plastics waste. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the key factors that govern the competitiveness of secondary plastics. Four key factors are identified: the price of virgin plastics (those derived from fossil fuel inputs), the cost of supplying secondary sourced resin, the demand for recycled plastics, and the availability of alternative waste management options.

This chapter synthesises the barriers that hinder more widespread plastics recycling, and offers a set of policy interventions that could help to address them. Barriers are divided into four categories: economic (such as the high cost of collecting, sorting, and reprocessing waste plastics), technical (such as the limited availability of technologies for recycling thermoset plastics), environmental (such as uncertainties about the presence of hazardous additives in plastics waste that can hinder the use of recycled plastics in certain applications), and regulatory (such as the uncontrolled dumping and burning of waste that takes place in some countries). Potential policy interventions are then presented and ranked according to how feasible and effective they are likely to be.