Sources for UK Plastics Industry
5,700 Number of Companies in the Plastics Industry
£32.8bn Plastics Industry in Turnover
Sources for above: ONS Annual Business Survey 2022 - Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S - Release Date: 24 June 2024
People Directly Employed - 160,000
Sources for above: ONS 2023
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 38.32 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles).
1.8m Tonnes of Material Produced
3.5m Tonnes of Material Processed
Source for Above: EUROMAP
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Archived souces from previous years,...
UK Plastics Industry Sources (as quoted in the BPF Members Directory 2024/2025)
5,700 Number of Companies in the Plastics Industry
£28.7bn Plastics Industry in Turnover
Sources for above: ONS Annual Business Survey 2021 - Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S - Published May 2023
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 33.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles).
1.7m Tonnes of Material Produced
3.5m Tonnes of Material Processed
Source for Above: EUROMAP
£10.5bn Value of Exports
Source for Above:
Plastics are one the the UK’s Top 10 Exports
Sources for Above: https://www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-exports/
150,000 Number of People Employed
Source for Above: ONS - Employees in the UK
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/businessregisterandemploymentsurveybresprovisionalresults/provisionalresults2022revisedresults2021
Dataset Used - Industry (two, three and five-digit Standard Industrial Classification) – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2
Provisional Results 2022
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/industry235digitsicbusinessregisterandemploymentsurveybrestable22
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 38.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles). )
Indirect Jobs Source - For "every work unit created in the plastics sector leads to 2.74 subsequent work units"
The Excellence of teh Plastics Supply Chain in Relaunching Manufacturing in Italy and Europe, The European House - Ambrosetti p.81
UK Plastics Industry: Sources (as quoted in BPF Members Directory 2023/2024)
Companies in the Plastics Industry - 5,800
Plastics Industry Turnover - £25bn
(Source: ONS Annual Business Survey Release Data - 16 June 2022 (2020 latest data) (Non-financial business economy, UK: Sections A to S)
https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/businessservices/datasets/uknonfinancialbusinesseconomyannualbusinesssurveysectionsas
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 38.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles). )
Exports £10.7bn
Source: UN Comtrade Database
Year 2022 (Reporters: United Kingdom, Partners: World)
HS Codes Used: 39 Plastics and Articles Thereof, 8477: Machinery for working rubber or plastics or for the manufacture of products from these materials,
Currency Exchange (Source: HMRC Average for the year to 31 December 2022) - 0.8003
2nd Largest Employer (see below for sources)
UK’s Top 10 Exports
Source: https://www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-exports/
+10% Increase in Value of Plastic Exports 2021-2022
People Employed 155,000
Sourece: ONS - Employees in the UK
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/businessregisterandemploymentsurveybresprovisionalresults/provisionalresults2020
Dataset Used - Industry (two, three and five-digit Standard Industrial Classification) – Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES): Table 2
Provisional Results 2021
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/industry235digitsicbusinessregisterandemploymentsurveybrestable2
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 38.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles).
Plastics accounts for 16% of UK manufacturing turnover
Source
UK Manufacturing Turnover 2022 = £183bn (Source: UK Manufacturing The Facts 2022 Make UK (Source - archived link)
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 38.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles).
Regional Location of Plastic and Ribber Firms in the UK
Using estimates based on Turnover from the "ONS ANNUAL BUSINESS SURVEY - 2019 Regional Results (UK non-financial business economy (Sections A-S) 1 2 by country and region, 2008-2019)" using "SIC 22 Manufacture of rubber and plastic products"
UK Plastics Industry: Sources (archived from previous reports)
Companies in the Plastics Industry - 5,800
Plastics Industry Turnover - £27bn
People Employed - 162,000
Source: ONS Annual Business Survey - 2019 Results (Release Date 24 June 2021)
Relevant SIC Codes: 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant codes partially incorporated based on BPF estimates - 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 38.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles).
Plastics is 2nd Largest Employer in Manufacturing Sector...
| Sector |
Direct Employees in Sector |
Source | Link to Source | Link to Archive Of Source |
| Food and Drink | 468,000 | The Food and Drink Federation | Link | Link |
| Automotive | 182,000 | SMMT | Link | Link |
| Plastics | 150,000 | BPF/ONS | Link | Link |
| Chemical | 140,000 | Chemical Industries Association | Link | Link |
| Defence | 132,000 | ADS Group | Link | Link |
| Furniture and Bedding | 123,000 | British Furniture Confederation | Link | Link |
| Aerospace | 114,000 | ADS Group | Link | Link |
| Marine | 90,000 | CTP | Link | Link |
| Pharmaceutical | 63,000 | Enterprise Ireland | Link | Link |
| Paper | 63,000 | Confederation of Paper Industries | Link | Link |
| Nuclear | 61,371 | Nuclear AMRC | Link | Link |
| Mining and Quarrying | 54,900 | Statistica | Link | Link |
| Space | 42,000 | ADS Group | Link | Link |
| Steel | 33,400 | House of Commons Library | Link | Link |
| Glass | 6,500 | British Glass | Link | Link |
Value of Exports: £9.6bn
Source: UN Comtrade Database
Year 2021 (Reporters: United Kingdom, Partners: World)
HS Codes Used: 39 Plastics and Articles Thereof, 8477: Machinery for working rubber or plastics or for the manufacture of products from these materials,
Currency Exchange (Source: HMRC Average for the year to 31 December 2021) - 0.7259
Tonnes of Material Produced 1.6m
Tonnes of Plastics Material Processed 3.3m
2.4x increase in recycling since 2006 (Source: Plastics Europe: Plastics The Facts 2020 p41)
DATA PUBLISHED IN HISTORIC DOCUMENTS (ARCHIVED HERE FOR HISTORIC REFERENCE)
Tonnes of Materials Produced 1.8mt
Tonnes of Plastics Materials Consumed 3.2mt
Source: Euromap World Market Directory 2016 Data
Companies in the Plastics Industry 6,200
Manufacturers of Plastics Products 5,200
Turnover of the Plastics Industry £25.6bn
People Employed 166,000
Source A: Office For National Statistics: "Annual Business Survey" - 2015 Provisional Results
Based upon Relevant SIC Codes "Manufactures of plastic products" – 20.16 (Manufacture of plastics in primary forms) and 22.2 (Manufacture of plastic products). In addition other relevant but not wholly incorporated 28.96 (Manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery), 27.33 (Manufacture of wiring devices), 33.20 (Installation of industrial machinery and equipment), 38.92 (Recovery of sorted materials) and 29320 (Manufacture of other parts and accessories for motor vehicles).
Calculation includes "plastics recyclers and traders", retrieved from Source B.
Source B: Plastics recyclers and traders – BPF Recycling Group and BPF Recycling Group Annual Return Survey (https://www.bpf.co.uk/utility/mediahandler.ashx?id=2243)
Plastics and Plastics Products one of UK Top 10 Exports
Source: http://www.worldstopexports.com/united-kingdoms-top-exports/
Value of Exports £8.2bn
Sources: ITC calculations based on UN COMTRADE statistics/www.trademap.org, Product Code: 39, “Plastics and Articles Thereof” (3901-3915 raw material codes, 3916-3926 plastic products)
Source: National statistical offices/VDMA (for Machinery exports). With EUR to GBP calculation using UK Gov Data
