Plastics Use in 2019

The dataset displays estimations of plastic use  in 2019, in million tonnes (t) of plastic for the 15 global regions of the OECD ENV-Linkages model. Details can be found in the Annex of the OECD Global Plastics Outlook. 

Additional information: Primary plastics use is estimated using regional consumption by application data from Ryberg et al. (2019). An assumption of the split by polymer and by application is made that it is homogenous to the global values. Historical values (pre-2015 data) is extrapolated from 2015 data using the global evolution contained in Geyer, Jambeck and Law (2017). Secondary plastics use is derived using recycling rates and recycling loss rates, as described in the Annex of the OECD Global Plastics Outlook. The plastics use data is associated with the economic flows in the OECD ENV-Linkages model to estimate changes over time. The total plastics use is equal to the sum of primary and secondary plastics use. The complete methodology can be found in the Annex of the OECD Global Plastics Outlook.

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Data source(s) used: OECD Global Plastics Outlook, OECD ENV-Linkages model, Geyer, Jambeck and Law (2017), Ryberg et al.(2019)