Global Plastic Production To Accelerate With $180bn Investment

The global plastic binge is set to increase by 40 percent in the next 10 years, thanks to increased funding in the sector since 2010, mainly driven by fossil fuel companies.

According to scientists, this risks a state of "permanent pollution" of the earth.

“We could be locking in decades of expanded plastics production at precisely the time the world is realising we should use far less of it,” said Carroll Muffett, president of the US Center for International Environmental Law, which has analysed the plastic industry.

“Around 99% of the feedstock for plastics is fossil fuels, so we are looking at the same companies, like Exxon and Shell, that have helped create the climate crisis. There is a deep and pervasive relationship between oil and gas companies and plastics.”

According to the statistics, the amount of plastic produced in a year is roughly the same as the entire weight of humanity.

However, the American Chemistry Council defended the growing plastic production and consumption, citing its economic benefits to the US such as the hundreds of thousands of jobs created and the convenience of plastic.