Key Points
If the current rate of plastic production continues, it could use up the global carbon budget to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by as early as 2060 or no later than 2083, according to a new study...
It is estimated that global plastic production today accounts for around 12 per cent of total demand for oil and 8.5 per cent of total demand for natural gas...
In 2019 alone, primary plastic production generated about 2.24 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e), which is 5.3 per cent of total global greenhouse gas emissions (excluding agriculture and LULUCF (Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry)...
Under a conservative growth scenario (2.5 percent per year), GHG emissions from primary plastic production would more than double to 4.75 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) by 2050, accounting for 21-26 per cent of the remaining global carbon budget for a 50 per cent chance of staying below the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold...
At a growth rate of 4 per cent per year, emissions from primary plastic production would increase more than threefold to 6.78 GtCO2e, accounting for 25-31 per cent of the remaining global carbon budget, the study said...
