In 2024, The Global Plastic Production Will Exceed 400 Million Tons
1. In 2024, the global total plastic production will be 413.8 million tons, and China's total plastic production will account for 33.3%
In 2024, the global total plastic production will be 413.8 million tons, of which mechanically recycled post-consumer plastic production will account for about 8.7%, reaching 36.5 million tons; chemical recycling will account for only 0.1%. Bio-based and bio-derived plastics account for 0.7%, reaching 3 million tons.
China's total plastic production accounts for 33.3%, the rest of Asia (excluding China and Japan) accounts for 19.7%, North America accounts for 17.1%, the EU 27+3 accounts for 12.3%, the Middle East and Africa account for 8.5%, Central and South America account for 3.8%, and Japan accounts for 2.8%.
2. Europe's total plastic production is 54 million tons, and mechanically recycled plastic production is 7.1 million tons
The report data shows that Europe's plastic manufacturing industry will further decline in 2024, and mechanically recycled plastic production will decline for the first time, and the decline will exceed expectations for the first time.
In 2024, the total plastic production of the EU fell to 54 million tons, a sharp year-on-year decrease of 8.3%, while the output of mechanically recycled post-consumer plastics also fell to 7.1 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 7.8%.
These figures are in sharp contrast to the 3.4% increase in global plastic production, which means that Europe's share of the global market (22% in 2006 and 14% in 2022) has further dropped to 12%.
In 2024, the total value of European plastic trade reached 12.7 billion euros. In trade cooperation outside the EU 27+3, China's imports and exports of primary plastics to the EU accounted for 11.7% and 11.5% respectively; imports and exports of plastic products accounted for 6.7% and 32.6% respectively. China is one of the EU's most important importers, far exceeding other countries.
While Europe maintains a positive trade balance in terms of value, in terms of tonnage, it becomes a net importer of plastic resins in 2022 and a net importer of plastic finished products in 2021, while exports of plastic resins fall by 25.4% between 2020 and 2024.
3. European chemical recycled plastic production is 120,000 tons, and bio-based and bioplastic production is 800,000 tons
Europe's declining competitiveness threatens the circular plastics transition in the plastics industry. Plastics are vital to the European economy, providing applications in almost all areas of multiple industries, including healthcare, automotive, building and construction, electronics, renewable energy infrastructure, consumer goods and packaging.
This shift threatens the viability of the European plastics value chain, which currently provides more than 1.5 million jobs in 51,700 companies and generated more than €365 billion in turnover within the EU in 2024.
Without a competition framework, Europe risks losing its leadership in sustainable plastics innovation and the economic and environmental benefits it brings.
Although Europe’s circular plastic production accounts for 14.8% of its total production, the 0.7% increase since 2022 indicates a deceleration trend and is below the growth required to achieve the plastics transition roadmap.
In addition to the decline in mechanical recycling production, Europe produced only 120,000 tonnes of chemically recycled plastics in 2024 (Plastics Europe aims to produce 2.8 million tonnes of chemically recycled plastics by 2030), while bio-based and bioplastic production increased slightly to 800,000 tonnes.
