Yearly Plastic Production¶
That's ALOT of plastic!¶
In 1960, the plastic industry produced 8 million tons of plastic per year (Graph 1)
This has increased by nearly 5000% to more than 400 million tons per year in 2017.
This is about the weight of 2 Million blue whales
1 blue whale weighs 200 Tons
Between 10,000 and 25,000 blue whales exist today.
Predictions¶
Yearly plastic production is expected to double in 20 years, from the 2015 yearly production of 419 million tons, to 838 Million tons in 2035.
This is about the weight of 140 Pyramids of Giza.
The Great Pyramid of Giza weighs 6 Million tons.
Per Capita¶
In 1974, global plastic consumption per year was 4.4 pound (2 kilograms) per capita.
Today, this has increased to about 95 pounds (43 kilograms) per capita.
- this number is still set to increase.
Yearly plastic production time line¶
| Year | Weight Produced |
|---|---|
| 1950 | 002 Million tons |
| 1960 | 009 Million tons |
| 1970 | 039 Million tons |
| 1980 | 077 Million tons |
| 1990 | 132 Million tons |
| 2000 | 234 Million tons |
| 2005 | 289 Million tons |
| 2010 | 349 Million tons |
| 2015 | 419 Million tons |
| 2016 | 434 Million tons |
| 2017 | 449 Million tons |
| 2018 | 466 Million tons |
| Future | Predictions |
| 2019 | 482 Million tons |
| 2020 | 499 Million tons |
| 2035 | 838 Million tons |
| 2050 | 1,676 Million tons |
Plastic Production by industry¶
Due to the low cost and efficinecy of plastic for all industries, it has become the leading material used for various applications.
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Packaging is the dominant sectoral use of plastic accounting 42 percent in 2015.
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This was followed by construction with 19 percent.
Values below represent plastic production by industry in the year 2015
| Industry | Plastic produced |
|---|---|
| Packaging | 160,600,000 tons |
| Building & Construction | 71,500,000 tons |
| Other sector | 64,900,000 tons |
| Textiles | 51,700,000 tons |
| Consumer products | 46,200,000 tons |
| Transportation | 29,700,000 tons |
| Electrical | 19,800,000 tons |
| Industry machinery | 3,300,000 tons |
Values from: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/plastic-production-by-sector