Plastic GHG: Not enough work has been done – 29 Mar 2022

Global life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from plastics, for example, is estimated to be around 1.7 Gt CO2e yr-1, which is substantially larger than the GHG emissions from global aviation.

This analysis also indicates that there still is a paucity of reliable data and tools for conducting life cycle cost analysis of plastics. In particular, a research effort found that that Asia, the major plastic-producing region, is scarcely covered by existing literature and databases. In addition, the life-cycle impacts of plastic additives, and the degradation pathways and associated environmental, human and ecological impacts of plastics are poorly understood, limiting our ability to gauge the life-cycle impacts of plastics