Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet

This executive summary from the Center for International Environmental Law details how the lifecycle of plastic—from fossil fuel extraction to waste management—contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, threatening the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C.

• Greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle are projected to grow significantly if current production and use trends continue. By 2030, annual emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons, which is equivalent to the output of more than 295 new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants. By 2050, cumulative emissions could exceed 56 gigatons, representing 10–13 percent of the remaining global carbon budget.
• Emissions occur at every stage of the plastic lifecycle: fossil fuel extraction and transport, refining and manufacture, waste management, and the ongoing degradation of plastic in the environment. In 2019, production and incineration were expected to add over 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
• Plastic refining is one of the fastest-growing and most greenhouse-gas-intensive manufacturing industries. In 2015, global emissions from ethylene cracking were between 184.3 and 213.0 million metric tons of CO2e. In the United States, more than 300 new or expanded petrochemical projects are being developed, including a Shell ethane cracker in Pennsylvania and an ExxonMobil refinery in Baytown, Texas.
• Waste management emissions are primarily driven by incineration, which produces extremely high emissions compared to landfilling or recycling. In 2015, US emissions from plastic incineration were estimated at 5.9 million metric tons of CO2e, while global incineration of plastic packaging waste totaled 16 million metric tons of CO2e, a figure that excludes unmanaged waste and open burning.
• Plastic pollution in the environment releases greenhouse gases as it degrades and may impair the ocean's natural carbon sequestration. Research indicates that plastic on coastlines, riverbanks, and landscapes releases gases at higher rates than plastic at the ocean's surface. Additionally, microplastics may reduce the ability of phytoplankton to fix carbon and negatively impact zooplankton that transport carbon to the deep ocean.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2019). Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet. https://www.ciel.org/project-update/plastic-climate-the-hidden-costs-of-a-plastic-planet/

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet. 2019. https://www.ciel.org/project-update/plastic-climate-the-hidden-costs-of-a-plastic-planet/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet |date=11 November 2019 |url=https://www.ciel.org/project-update/plastic-climate-the-hidden-costs-of-a-plastic-planet/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2019plastic, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Plastic \& Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2019}, month = nov, url = {https://www.ciel.org/project-update/plastic-climate-the-hidden-costs-of-a-plastic-planet/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }