Oil Consumption
Most plastics are made from petrochemicals, meaning that fossil feedstocks are used in their production. However, only 6% of the world’s global oil consumption is are used in plastics production (1).
How will plastics be affected by dwindling oil reserves?
• Plastics require hydrogen and carbon, which are freely available in the atmosphere. The most convenient way of accessing them is by taking them out of oil to provide the hydrocarbons ethylene, propylene, styrene etc. But hydrocarbons can also be made from methane, coal and biomass (e.g. bio-ethanol).
• Other possible raw materials for plastics are: starch, cellulose, sugars, lactic acid, organic waste, vegetable oils, micro-organisms and even the atmosphere itself.
• Whilst bioplastics currently account for 0.5% of global plastic production it is estimated that global bioplastics capacity is set to increase from 2,182kt in 2023 to 7,432kt by 2028 as there is a growing interest in the use of biomass as a feedstock (2).
The BPF believes…
It is estimated that in Europe between 4–6% of oil and gas is used for producing plastics (3) and globally around 6% of global oil is used (1). By contrast, 87% is used for transport, electricity and heating (1) — meaning it is simply burnt and lost.
• Used plastics can be recycled numerous times. If it doesn’t make economic or environmental sense to recycle, then the energy can be recovered through incineration: used plastics have a higher calorific value than coal. This is also true for bio-based plastics.
• Plastics reduce the consumption of oil elsewhere. They reduce the weight of vehicles, aircraft, ships, packaging and products, meaning that less fuel is burnt and CO2 emissions are lower. 80% of a product’s energy consumption comes after the production and manufacturing phase (5).
• The production of plastic products uses far less energy compared to those made from alternative materials. Substituting plastics with alternatives would increase the lifecycle energy consumption of these products by approximately 57% and the greenhouse gas emissions would rise by 61% (4).
• Any use of bio-based feedstocks has to be done in a responsible and sustainable way.
First published on 21 May 2019
Reviewed and updated 4 April 2024
Reviewed February 2025
Sources
1 - The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the future of plastics by Ellen MacArthur Foundation (p17)2 - Bioplastics Market Development Update 2023 (European Bioplastics)
3 - Plastics The Facts 2017 by PlasticsEurope p8
4 - The impact of plastic packaging on life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Europe
Author: Denkstatt | Bernd Brandt, Harald Pilz (p11)
5 - Plastics – the Facts 2016 An analysis of European plastics production, demand and waste data by PlasticsEurope (p5)
