{"id":35378,"date":"2025-05-15T17:10:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=35378"},"modified":"2025-05-15T17:11:13","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T15:11:13","slug":"the-impact-of-primary-plastic-production-on-climate-change-is-a-threat-to-the-global-carbon-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/05\/15\/the-impact-of-primary-plastic-production-on-climate-change-is-a-threat-to-the-global-carbon-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"The impact of primary plastic production on climate change: A threat to the global carbon budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

Global annual production and demand for plastics, including elastomers and fibers, reached impressive levels in 2019 460 million metric tons (Mt)<\/strong>Since 2000, this production has grown steadily at an average annual rate of 3.6 %. This rapid increase in plastic production and its continued dependence on fossil fuels, both as raw materials (input materials) and as energy for production processes, are contributing significantly to widespread environmental problems and health harms. Plastic pollution is thus becoming an increasingly serious threat not only to natural ecosystems and human health, but also to the climate. In response to this growing global crisis, 175 countries supported resolution 5\/14 at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in March 2022 to end plastic pollution and develop an international, legally binding instrument by 2024, also known as the Global Plastics Treaty.<\/p>\n

Plastics production is a complex, multi-step process. It involves the extraction of fossil fuels, the refining and processing of hydrocarbons, the production of monomers (the basic building blocks), the polymerization itself (the joining of monomers into long chains), and finally the shaping of the final products. The nine main types of plastic polymers produced in large volumes include polyethylenes (LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polystyrene (PS) and other styrene plastics (SAN, ABS), and polyurethane (PU). These polymers account for almost 80 % of current plastic demand. The largest uses of plastic products are in the packaging industry (approximately 31 %), construction (16 %), and transportation (14 %).<\/p>\n

Despite growing awareness of the problem, there is lack of detailed and transparent information on the contribution of the entire life cycle of plastics to total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions<\/strong> and what implications this has for the remaining global carbon budget needed to meet international climate targets. The emissions contribution of individual production stages and different types of plastic polymers is not sufficiently understood and openly communicated, making it difficult to accurately assess the true climate impact of plastics production.<\/p>\n

According to the analyses, they achieved GHG emissions from global primary plastics production in 2019 were approximately 2.24 GtCO2e.<\/strong> Projections suggest that, depending on demand growth scenarios, these emissions could reach 4.75 to 6.78 GtCO2e in 2050.<\/p>\n

To understand the significance of these emissions, it is crucial to assess them in relation to the remaining global carbon budget<\/strong>, which determines how much additional greenhouse gases we can emit to limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C by 2050 with some probability. This budget is estimated at around 500 GtCO2e with a 50% probability or 400 GtCO2e with a 67% probability.<\/p>\n

The analysis shows that cumulative GHG emissions from global primary plastics production between 2020 and 2050 could amount to a significant portion of this limited carbon budget<\/strong>:<\/p>\n