Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced yearly, half of which is used to create single-use objects equivalent to buying luggage, cups and straws.
At least 14 million tons of plastic find yourself within the ocean yearly, and plastic is discovered on the shorelines of each continent, in keeping with the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Microplastics have been present in faucet water, beer, salt and lately within the human bloodstream.
Plastic, an artificial natural polymer, is constituted of petroleum, and simply 20 firms are the supply of greater than half of the single-use plastics on this planet.
The Plastic Waste Makers Index is a examine by Australia’s philanthropic Minderoo Foundation that identifies the supply of the world’s single-use plastic waste. It names the 20 petrochemical firms who generate greater than half the world’s single-use plastic waste, and the worldwide monetary establishments backing them.
The report goals to extend transparency alongside the complete plastics provide chain, past the manufacturers like Coca-Cola named because the No. 1 contributor to plastic air pollution globally. Polymers are the constructing blocks of plastic, and polymer producers are the gatekeepers of plastic manufacturing.
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According to the report, the index additionally serves as a device to help the businesses named to evaluate their single-use plastic footprint and to measure progress towards their very own sustainability objectives, in transferring from virgin fossil gasoline sources to extra round fashions. A round financial system is one which emphasizes sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling, somewhat than a linear mannequin through which assets are collected, used and thrown away.
>> See: The Countries That Produce the Most Plastic Waste
With strain on monetary establishments to maneuver capital away from public firms that carry out negatively towards ESG standards, the evaluation identifies which courses of shareholders (institutional asset managers, state/ sovereign homeowners, non-public people/establishments) maintain what worth of fairness within the firms producing single-use plastic, and their estimated contribution to plastic waste.
The report addresses solely single-use plastics. Types of plastic included within the examine are:
PET: Mostly used for food and drinks packaging, together with plastic bottles
HDPE: Dense and thick plastic generally used as grocery luggage, opaque milk and juice containers, shampoo bottles and medication bottles.
LLDPE: Plastic movie and sheeting
LDPE: The most-used household of plastics on this planet, LDPE is used for luggage (grocery, dry cleansing, bread, frozen meals luggage, newspapers, rubbish) plastic wraps; coatings for paper milk cartons and scorching & chilly beverage cups; some squeezable bottles (honey, mustard), meals storage containers and container lids
PP: Used for warm meals containers and in disposable diapers.
These polymers represented 87%, or 115 million metric tons of complete single-use plastic volumes in 2019.
According to Minderoo’s report, these are the 30 firms on the base of the provision chain liable for probably the most single-use plastics, and in the end probably the most plastic waste on this planet. The record contains firms equivalent to ExxonMobile (XOM) – Get Exxon Mobil Corporation Report, Dow (DOW) – Get Dow Inc. Report, and Chevron (CVX) – Get Chevron Corporation Report. The most up-to-date knowledge is from November 2021. The contribution to single-use plastic waste components within the efforts of those firms to scale back plastic air pollution.
1. ExxonMobil
Irving, Texas
No. of manufacturing websites: 55
Polymers produced in 2019: 11.2 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 5.9 million metric tons
2. Sinopec
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 81
Polymers produced in 2019: 11.5 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 5.6 million metric tons
3. Dow
Midland, Michigan
No. of manufacturing websites: 54
Polymers produced in 2019: 9.3 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 5.6 million metric tons
4. Indorama Ventures
Thailand
No. of manufacturing websites: 26
Polymers produced in 2019: 5.1 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 4.6 million metric tons
5. Saudi Aramco
Saudi Arabia
No. of manufacturing websites: 56
Polymers produced in 2019: 9.5 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 4.3 million metric tons
6. PetroChina
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 59
Polymers produced in 2019: 8.8 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 4 million metric tons
7. LyondellBasell
Netherlands
No. of manufacturing websites: 69
Polymers produced in 2019: 9.3 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 3.9 million metric tons
8. Reliance Industries
India
No. of manufacturing websites: 26
Polymers produced in 2019: 5.5 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 3.1 million metric tons
9. Braskem
Brazil
No. of manufacturing websites: 40
Polymers produced in 2019: 6.7 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 3 million metric tons
10. Alpek
Mexico
No. of manufacturing websites: 12
Polymers produced in 2019: 2.5 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2.3 million metric tons
11. Borealis
Austria
No. of manufacturing websites: 29
Polymers produced in 2019: 5 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2.2 million metric tons
12. Lotte Chemical
South Korea
No. of manufacturing websites: 26
Polymers produced in 2019: 4.1 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2.1 million metric tons
13. INEOS
United Kingdom
No. of manufacturing websites: 27
Polymers produced in 2019: 4.8 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2 million metric tons
14. TotalEnergies
France
No. of manufacturing websites: 33
Polymers produced in 2019: 4.5 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.9 million metric tons
15. Jiangsu Hailun Petrochemical
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 1
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.7 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.6 million metric tons
16. Far Eastern New Century
Taiwan
No. of manufacturing websites: 7
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.6 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.6 million metric tons
17. Formosa Plastics Corporation
Taiwan
No. of manufacturing websites: 22
Polymers produced in 2019: 3.6 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.6 million metric tons
18. China Energy Investment Group
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 12
Polymers produced in 2019: 3.4 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.5 million metric tons
19. PTT
Thailand
No. of manufacturing websites: 17
Polymers produced in 2019: 3.1 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.5 million metric tons
20. China Resources
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 4
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.4 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.3 million metric tons
21. Nova Chemicals Corporation
Canada
No. of manufacturing websites: 8
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.9 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.2 million metric tons
22. Siam Cement Group
Thailand
No. of manufacturing websites: 20
Polymers produced in 2019: 2.4 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.1 million metric tons
23. Phillips 66
Houston, Texas
No. of manufacturing websites: 22
Polymers produced in 2019: 2.4 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1 million metric tons
24. Zhejiang Wankai
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 1
Polymers produced in 2019: 1 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1 million metric tons
25. Sumitomo Chemical
Japan
No. of manufacturing websites: 23
Polymers produced in 2019: 2 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1 million metric tons
26. Jiangyin Chengxing Industrial Group
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 1
Polymers produced in 2019: 1 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.9 million metric tons
27. Chevron Corporation
San Ramon, California
No. of manufacturing websites: 23
Polymers produced in 2019: 2.2 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.9 million metric tons
28. Hanwha Chemical
South Korea
No. of manufacturing websites: 16
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.6 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.9 million metric tons
29. China Coal
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 12
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.8 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.8 million metric tons
30. Rongsheng Group
China
No. of manufacturing websites: 4
Polymers produced in 2019: 1.2 million metric tons
Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.8 million metric tons
See the total record of the 100 polymer producers that generate 90% of all single-use plastic waste on this planet at Minderoo.org.