Plastics value chain – abatement of greenhouse gas emissions

This study focuses on the possibilities to abate greenhouse gas emissions in the value chain of plastics with special emphasis on efficiency improvements in the virgin plastics production and to recycle or reuse/regenerate plastics from waste streams. The study is restricted to the plastics and their intermediates produced in annual quantities over 20 million tons (Mt) on global scale. The chemicals and polymers considered include intermediate feedstocks ammonia, methanol, ethene and propene, polyolefins polyethylene and polypropylene, and other included polymers are polyester, polyamide and acrylic fibres, polyvinylchloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane resin and polystyrene. Improved efficiency in the virgin plastic value chain has the potential to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 531 Mt CO2eq /y, provided that all of the current global production is upgraded to meet the European Union’s best benchmarked facilities. These improvements would mean a 15.4% reduction of all global chemical sector emissions. The evaluation of probability for all global production facilities to reach the EU benchmarked values is excluded as unclear. Increasing the global recycling rate of plastics from the current 18% to 42% would reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 142.3 Mt CO2eq /a, provided that the segregation of recyclable materials is improved, and that incineration is not increased. These downstream improvements would mean a 4% reduction of all global chemical sector emissions and reduce the accumulation of plastics not only on land but also in the oceans.