Plastic has become an integral part of modern life, with its versatile applications spanning various industries. Packaging leads the way in global plastic consumption, accounting for 35 percent of total usage in 2022. This dominance in the packaging sector underscores the material's widespread use in protecting and preserving goods across supply chains worldwide.

By 2060, global plastics use is projected to reach some 1.2 billion metric tons. Packaging, construction, and transportation are projected to account for 60 percent of total plastics use by 2060, with packaging as the most used plastics application. Polymers used for packaging include, among others, PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and PE (polyethylene). The use of these polymers are expected to more than double by 2060.

According to a survey conducted across Southeast Asia in May 2023, 30 percent of the respondents stated that they sometimes recycled single-use plastic bottled water after finishing them, while 21 percent declared that they always did it. On the other hand, eight percent of the respondents stated to never recycle single-use plastic bottles.

The amount of plastic waste produced globally was estimated to be 353 million metric tons in 2019. Under current policies, this amount is projected to almost triple by 2060. Under the Regional Action plan scenario, the annual amount of plastic waste produced worldwide could fall to 837 million metric ton, while the Global Ambition scenario could potentially reduce plastic waste generation to less than 680 million metric tons. This could be achieved via several policies, including increased taxes on plastics use, and increasing the global recycling rate to 60 percent. This would see the amount of mismanaged plastic waste drop to roughly six million metric tons, compared with 153 million metric tons in the baseline scenario. The amount of plastic leakage into the environment would also be considerably reduced. In contrast, a business-as-usual approach would see the amount of plastic leakage climb to four million metric tons by 2060.

The worldwide production of plastics reached 413.8 million metric tons in 2023. The versatility of this group of materials accounts for the continued growth in production year after year. In tandem with that growth, the market value of plastics also continues to grow. What plastics are and how they are made Plastics are used in a wide variety of products and have displaced other materials – such as wood, metal, and glass – that were previously used for the applications that plastics now dominate. One of the main applications for plastics use is plastic packaging. The production of plastic requires four basic steps: the acquirement of raw material, synthesizing a basic polymer, compounding the polymer into a usable fraction, and lastly, molding or shaping the plastic. Leading plastic producers Asia was the largest plastics producer in the world in 2023. That year, the country accounted for 33 percent of global production. Over recent years, China produced an average of approximately nine million metric tons of plastic products each month. The rest of Asia ranks second worldwide in terms of plastic production, with a share of 19 percent in 2023.

Plastics use in the United States has grown substantially over the past four decades. Between 1980 and 2019, annual plastic use tripled, surpassing 84 million metric tons in the latter year. During this period, plastic use experienced a notable reduction in 2008 during the global financial crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic is believed to have had a similar impact on U.S. plastic consumption, with projections showing a year-over-year drop of four percent in 2020. Nevertheless, plastics use is projected to rebound and continue rising over the coming decades.

Packaging accounted for 31 percent of global plastics use in 2019. The packaging sector is expected to remain the largest end-user of plastics over the coming decades. Building and construction was the second-largest end-use for plastics in 2019, accounting for roughly 17 percent of global plastics use.

Global plastics use is projected to reach 1.2 billion metric tons by 2060 - an increase of 168 percent compared with 2019. Approximately 195 million metric tons of that figure will be polypropylene (PP), accounting for 16 percent of polymers in use. Plastic waste generation is expected to have tripled by 2060, when compared with current levels.

Plastic use in the United States was projected to have fallen four percent in 2020 relative to 2019, to 80.8 million tons. Nevertheless, this figure is projected to double by 2060, to 166 million metric tons. This would account for approximately 14 percent of projected global plastics use that year.

Global plastic use for packaging is projected to total 381 million metric tons by 2060. Polypropylene (PP) is expected to account for roughly 24 percent of polymers used for packaging that year, while 16 percent will be made up from polyethylene terephthalate (PET). By 2060, plastic packaging is projected to account for more than 30 percent of plastics use worldwide.

By the year 2040, OECD countries are forecast to use 63 percent of global plastics. Non-OECD countries are forecast to use comparatively less, with a share of 37 percent of plastics produced.

Global plastics use amounted to 460 million metric tons in 2019. China accounted for the largest share of global plastics use in 2019, at just over 20 percent. The United States followed closely that year with a share of 18 percent of global plastics use.

According to a survey conducted across Southeast Asia in May 2023, Thailand had the highest share of respondents who shared they always recycled single-use plastic bottles after finishing them. In contrast, 25 percent of Indonesian respondents stated that they never recycled single-use plastic bottles.

Global plastics use has increased six-fold since 1980, reaching a high of 460 million metric tons in 2019. Global plastics use was expected to decrease 2.2 percent year-on-year in 2020. This decline was mainly a result of COVID-19-related lockdown measures, which had a significant impact on plastics production and use. The last notable reduction in plastics use was during the 2008 /2009 global financial crisis. Global plastics use is forecast to continue rising in the coming decades.

This statistic depicts the distribution of single-use plastic production worldwide in 2014, broken down by region. In that year, around 26 percent of the single-use plastic produced globally was produced in North East Asia.

China generated the most single-use plastic waste in 2019, at 25.4 million metric tons. This was followed by the United States, where an estimated 17.2 million metric tons of single-use plastic waste was generated. While Australia's net single-use plastic waste generation in 2019 was considerably lower at 1.5 million metric tons of single-use plastic waste, it had one of the highest rates of single-use plastic waste generation per capita, at 59 kilograms per person.

Global plastics use is projected to grow considerably over the next four decades to reach more than 1.2 billion metric tons by 2060. China and the U.S. are expected to remain the largest plastics users during this period, with use roughly doubling in both countries. Meanwhile, plastics use in developing and emerging economies are projected to grow at a faster rate. For example, plastics use in India is projected to increase five-fold between 2019 and 2060, to 160 million metric tons, accounting for 13 percent of total global plastics use in the latter year.

In 2018, packaging accounted for 46 percent of global plastic waste generation. This was considerably higher than any other sector, with textiles making up the second highest share with approximately 15 percent.

Although very useful, plastic products, such as packaging, pose a number of environmental threats. Due to poor infrastructure and a lack of recycling options, products often end up in landfill sites, or oceans, causing significant environmental pollution.

According to a survey of 2,000 adults within the United Kingdom, 92 percent said they were concerned about plastic pollution. In a bid to reduce plastic pollution, 78 percent said they have taken steps to reduce their use of single-use plastics, while 81 percent want the UK government make refillable products easier to buy and more widely available. It is estimated that almost four million metric tons of plastics placed on the UK market become waste.

Around 32 percent of the respondents in the United States stated that they had made changes in their daily habits in order to avoid single-use plastics. On the other hand, eight percent indicated that they do not care about the topic.