Plastics Consumption

3.4 Plastics Consumption

3.4.1 Definitions and scope

1“Plastics production” and “plastics consumption” are terms often and incorrectly used interchangeably. To avoid confusion, it is recommended to adhere to the definitions used in this Handbook.

2Plastics production: The total weight of virgin and recycled plastic materials manufactured within a country’s economic territory during a specified reporting period (typically annual). This metric encompasses primary production of plastic pellets, as well as the conversion of these materials into intermediate and finished plastic products by domestic manufacturers.

3Primary production refers to the manufacture of virgin polymer in primary forms, such as pellets, flakes and resins. Where recycled plastic is reprocessed into new primary forms, it is counted as secondary production. The split between virgin and secondary production should be recorded where the data allow.

4Plastics consumption: The aggregate weight of plastic materials utilised within a country’s economic borders during the reporting period. Plastic Consumption accounts for all plastic materials entering the national economy, regardless of origin, and excludes domestically produced plastics exported for foreign consumption.

Total consumption = production + imports − exports

5The formula above sets out apparent consumption. Production is the total plastic manufactured in the country, imports are added, since imported plastic is also used domestically, while exports are subtracted, as plastic sent abroad is consumed elsewhere. Production here is gross domestic output rather than output net of exports, and subtracting exports therefore does not cancel it out.

6Apparent consumption is a demand-side estimate and is not adjusted for changes in stock. Plastic held in warehouses, or accumulating in long-life products such as pipes, vehicles and buildings, is not separated out; the figure therefore reflects material entering use rather than material discarded in the same year. Production, import and export data should be compiled on the same annual basis, so that the three sources reconcile.

7Users may wish to distinguish the amount of virgin material consumed from the amount of recycled plastic consumed.

8Virgin plastics consumption: The total weight of manufactured plastic materials derived from petrochemical feedstocks (primarily oil and natural gas) used within a country’s economic territory during the reporting period. Virgin plastics consumption represents materials entering the economy for the first time, before any recycling or recovery processes.

9Recycled plastics consumption: The aggregate weight of post-consumer and post-industrial plastic materials that have undergone recycling processes and are subsequently consumed in products within a country’s economic borders during the reporting period. The metric encompasses mechanical, chemical, and other forms of recycled plastic materials incorporated into new products or packaging.

10Consumption data can also be split by industry category, type of plastics polymer and destination of consumption – see the Section on Disaggregating Data for further details.

3.4.2 Why consumption data matters

1Consumption is the point where plastic enters everyday use, and it influences every subsequent stage of the life cycle. How much plastic a country consumes, and of what kind, determines how much waste it will later generate, collect, treat and, where systems fall short, release into the environment. Measuring consumption therefore gives an early signal of future waste flows and a baseline against which reduction policies can be judged.

2Consumption data also connects the plastics system to the economy. Linked to economic sectors and product types, it shows which industries and which goods account for most plastic use, which helps target design standards, reuse schemes and extended producer responsibility. It supports reporting against Sustainable Development Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production, and provides the demand-side figures needed for Plastics Accounts compiled under the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).

3Because a large share of plastic arrives inside imported finished goods, consumption data also captures pressures that production and trade figures alone can miss. A country with little domestic production can still be a major consumer, and only consumption data reveals this.

3.4.3 Methods for generating consumption data

1To obtain data on plastics consumption, users could consider applying one (or several) of the methods in Table 3.4. The methods are grouped by who is most likely to lead or supply the data:

2
Government: methods based on official statistics – for example apparent consumption from production and trade data, national consumption surveys, and extended producer responsibility.
3
Private sector: data generated by businesses – for example voluntary producer declarations, retail and banking data, shipping and logistics records, and business and market-research reports.
4
Waste-management sector: data from waste-treatment and recycling facilities, used as a proxy for the plastic consumed.
5
Research and academia: studies by universities and research institutes, such as household consumption studies and material flow analysis

6Table 3.4. Tools for developing plastic consumption data

Method	Description	Key advantages	Limitations
Government — Apparent consumption from production and trade data.	Combine domestic production with import and export data to estimate apparent consumption (production + imports − exports). Trade data can be drawn from UN Comtrade and the UNCTAD life cycle plastics trade dataset, which split plastic into primary forms, semi-finished and finished products.	Uses data many countries already compile; internationally comparable through HS and SITC codes; gives a whole-economy estimate.	Not adjusted for changes in stock; depends on the plastic fraction of mixed product codes; plastic hidden inside imported finished goods must be estimated.
Government — National consumption surveys. Examples: Bureau of Labor Statistics (USA); Statistics Bureau (Japan); Eurostat.	Systematic collection of data through questionnaires administered to households, businesses or institutions to gather information on plastic consumption. Participation could be voluntary or mandatory.	Official statistics with high credibility; standardised methodologies; representative sampling; regular reporting cycles; direct source information.	Resource-intensive to implement; time lag in data publication; may lack product-specific detail and polymer-type information.
Government — Regulated producer responsibility schemes, including EPR.	See the production section for detailed guidance. The data reflects material placed on the market (produced), which may not actually be consumed. There may also be material that is consumed but not registered within an EPR scheme because it was imported — the treatment of import data differs between jurisdictions.	—	—
Private sector — Voluntary producer declarations, including under a voluntary EPR scheme.	See the production section for detailed guidance.	—	—
Private sector — Retail and banking data.	Analysis of point-of-sale data, transaction records and financial information from retailers and financial institutions to estimate plastic consumption. Volumes could be estimated using standardised assumptions or, more accurately, expenditure could be integrated with information from digital product passports.	Leverages existing business systems; high coverage of the formal market; real-time consumption tracking; financial valuation.	Limited plastic content visibility; data access restrictions; privacy concerns limit data sharing.
Private sector — Shipping and logistics records.	See trade documentation (shipping companies, port authorities, bills of lading) in the trade section. It is important to capture imported products within consumption data.	—	—
Private sector — Business reports, national production surveys and market research.	See the production section for details.	—	—
Waste-management sector — Waste treatment reporting and recycling facility data.	Systematic documentation of plastic quantities received at recycling plants, landfills, incineration plants and other treatment facilities.	Captures plastic volumes disposed of, which can be used as a proxy for a proportion of plastics consumption.	Requires estimation of the plastics fraction through waste composition sampling; disposal does not equal consumption — some items disposed of may be decades old, while some items consumed in a given year are kept; methodological variations between sites.
Research and academia — Household consumption studies. Examples: Northen et al. (2023), UK; The Big Plastic Count, UK.	Studies that measure the plastic a sample of households buys or throws away, for example by weighing and recording plastic packaging and products over a set period. Citizen-science counts, in which households record every piece of plastic they throw away over a week, can extend coverage at low cost.	Captures real household consumption and product-level detail; can reveal where single-use plastic is concentrated.	Small sample sizes limit representation; resource-intensive methodologies; self-reporting inaccuracies; limited geographic coverage.
Research and academia — Material flow analysis.	See Part IV, Material Flow Analysis, for detailed guidance.	—	—

3.4.4 Disaggregating consumption data

1Total consumption is most useful when it can be broken down. The main dimensions are:

2
Product form: plastic in primary forms (pellets, flakes and resins), semi-finished products, and finished products. Keeping these separate avoids double counting, since primary plastic is often processed into finished goods within the same country.
3
Polymer type: for example PET, HDPE, LDPE, PP, PS and PVC, which behave differently in use and at end of life.
4
Application or sector: packaging, building and construction, textiles, transport, electrical and electronic goods, agriculture, and other consumer products.
5
Origin: virgin or recycled content, and domestically produced or imported.
6
End use: intermediate consumption by industry, final consumption by households, and plastic added to long-life stock such as infrastructure and durable goods.

7Further detail on these categories is provided in the Disaggregating Data section.

3.4.5 Data challenges and a tiered approach to getting started

1Consumption is rarely measured directly, and most estimates are therefore built from other data. A few challenges recur:

2
Hidden plastic in imports: much plastic arrives inside finished goods, from vehicles to electronics, and must be estimated from the plastic content of each product type.
3
Double counting: primary, semi-finished and finished plastic can each be counted, which inflates totals unless the three flows are kept separate.
4
Stock changes: apparent consumption does not capture plastic that accumulates in long-life products or sits in inventories, and therefore measures material entering use rather than material discarded.
5
Polymer and product detail: trade and production codes rarely give the polymer split, which must often be modelled.

6A country can start simply and add detail over time:

7
Basic: estimate apparent consumption from existing production and trade data (Production + Imports − Exports), using HS or SITC codes.
8
Intermediate: add producer declarations and extended producer responsibility data, national consumption or household budget surveys, and market research to refine the estimate and split it by sector and polymer.
9
Advanced: reconcile all sources in a physical supply and use table or material flow analysis that links consumption to production, trade and waste, disaggregated by polymer, product form and sector, and integrated into Plastics Accounts under the SEEA.

3.4.6 Further materials

1
UNEP and UNITAR (2023), Statistical guideline for measuring flows of plastic throughout the life cycle — the reference methodology for apparent consumption and the physical supply and use table (PSUT) framework.
2
OECD (2022), Global Plastics Outlook - global and regional data on plastics use, with projections to 2060.
3
UNCTAD life cycle plastics trade dataset - imports and exports of plastic by life cycle stage (stats.unctad.org/plastics).
4
UN Comtrade database - detailed trade data by HS code, useful for the trade side of apparent consumption.
5
The Big Plastic Count (UK) - a citizen-science household plastic count, and an example of a low-cost household study.
6
National physical flow accounts for plastic compiled by Statistics Denmark and Statistics Canada offer worked examples of consumption measurement.