Resource productivity and waste
Improving Markets for Recycled Plastics
Trends, Prospects and Policy Responses
Plastics have become one of the most prolific materials on the planet: in 2015 we
produced about 380 million tonnes of plastics globally, up from 2 million tonnes in
the 1950s. Yet today only 15% of this plastic waste is collected and recycled into
secondary plastics globally each year. This report looks at why this is the case and
what we can do about it, as the pervasiveness of plastics is becoming an urgent public
health and planetary problem. Not only is the diffusion of waste plastics into the
wider environment creating hugely negative impacts, but plastics production emits
approximately 400 million tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually as a result
of the energy used in their production, transport, and final waste treatment. Improved
plastics collection and recycling represents a promising solution to these concerns.
Published on May 24, 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Foreword | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Acronyms and abbreviations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency conversions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Executive summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Plastics production | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recycling plastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The recycled plastics industry | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Markets and trade in waste plastics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barriers and interventions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Annexes19 chapters available
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