plastic pollution

Climate pollution from plastics to outpace coal emissions in US by 2030, report finds

The petrochemical industry has found a new market for fossil fuels: plastics."

With dozens of new plastics manufacturing and recycling facilities in the works, the U.S. plastics industry will release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal-fired power plants by 2030, say the authors of a new report.


Emissions from the plastics sector equaled that of 116 coal-fired power plants last year, according to the report out Thursday from Bennington College's Beyond Plastics project. Meanwhile, 42 plastics manufacturing and recycling facilities have opened, or are in the process of being built or permitted, since 2019.

“As the world transitions away from fossil fuels for electricity generation and for transportation, the petrochemical industry has found a new market for fossil fuels: plastics," Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, told reporters on Thursday.

With the U.S. coal industry in decline, the report authors say policymakers at home and at the upcoming COP26 climate summit, a conference happening at the end of month where world leaders will hash out the details of climate pledges, need to factor the climate toll of plastics into emissions reductions efforts.

“Leaving out plastics is leaving out a giant piece of the problem," Enck said. “We would like the national leaders that are gathering in Glasgow, Scotland, to take the plastics issue just as seriously as they are taking transportation and electricity generation."

Climate costs of U.S. plastics

The report authors calculated emissions from 10 stages of plastics production, from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for the raw material—ethane in natural gas—all the way up to burning waste in incinerators.

Cracker plants, where natural gas is heated at such high temperatures that it fractures into plastic building blocks like ethylene, have the heaviest emissions toll, producing around 70 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent pollutants, which is equal to the emissions of 35 coal-fired power plants. Because the report looks at emissions from a range of greenhouse gases, the authors converted the warming potential of all the pollutants into an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, the most common greenhouse gas.

The authors say that emissions reports from the plastics industry are incomplete as they don't adequately account for leaks of methane—a greenhouse gas that's 84 times more climate-warming than carbon dioxide in the short-term—and other gases from the transport and production of plastics feedstocks.

Related: The US falls behind most of the world in plastic pollution legislation

They note that while so-called "chemical recycling," which uses large amounts of energy to melt used plastics into building blocks for fuel and other products, is uncommon now, new plants could add up to 18 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent pollutants by 2025. Enck referred to chemical recycling as plastics' "new deception" now that Americans are aware that less than 9% of plastics are recycled.

Shipping resins and other plastics building blocks overseas accounts for a significant amount of emissions as well, said Jim Vallette, president of Material Research, the firm that Beyond Plastics hired to do the report analysis. "Plastic is very much like the new coal because the coal industry also is counting on exports to stay alive," he added.

Harmful plastics pollution 

Plastics facilities don't just create planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. They also release benzene, formaldehyde, and the carcinogen ethylene oxide, among other harmful pollutants. The plastics industry has come under fire in recent years for building its polluting plants in poorer parts of the country: 90% of the climate pollution from U.S. plastics plants occurs in just 18 communities that are mostly in Texas and Louisiana, according to the report.

"The health impacts of the emissions are disproportionately borne by low-income communities and communities of color, making this a major environmental justice issue," Enck said.

Banner photo credit: Bob Doran/flickr

Black and orange oil pump jack in the middle of a field

New order weakens protections for public lands and wildlife

President Trump’s Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a directive making it easier to develop fossil fuels on public lands, reversing conservation efforts and threatening migratory birds, national monuments and endangered species.

Lisa Sorg and Wyatt Myskow report for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
Two men carrying a solar panel

Trump’s climate funding freeze leaves rural businesses in limbo

The Trump administration’s freeze on climate and energy funding has disrupted businesses, nonprofits and local governments, with rural projects in conservative-leaning states facing stalled reimbursements and financial strain.

Jeff St. John reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
Elon Musk gesturing and speaking at an event

Musk-backed effort threatens USAID’s climate programs

A freeze on USAID funding, supported by Elon Musk and the Trump administration, has halted key climate initiatives, potentially jeopardizing disaster preparedness and clean energy projects worldwide.

Chico Harlan reports for The Washington Post.

Keep reading...Show less
Person in fingerless gloves using macbook pro

Researchers fight to save  environmental data erased from federal websites by Trump's administration

The Trump administration has swiftly deleted climate and environmental justice data from federal websites, prompting scientists and advocates to scramble to preserve critical resources.

Naveena Sadasivam reports for Grist.

Keep reading...Show less
Curved facade of the Environmental Protection Agency building in Washington DC.

EPA partially unfreezes environmental funding after court ruling

A federal judge’s order has prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to lift a spending freeze on some programs under the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act, though major climate-related funds remain paused.

James Bikales and Zack Colman report for POLITICO.

Keep reading...Show less
Aerial photography of icebergs on body of water during daytime.

Polar ice melt may collapse key ocean current by 2050, scientists warn

Global warming has accelerated since 2010, raising concerns that a critical Atlantic Ocean current could shut down within decades, leading to extreme sea level rise and disruptive climate shifts.

Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Map showing the Gulf of Mexico.

Greg Grandin: Renaming the Gulf of Mexico while oil drilling and pollution surge

Donald Trump’s push to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America" draws attention away from decades of offshore drilling, pollution and environmental devastation affecting marine life and coastal communities.

Greg Grandin writes for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.