Key facts on Plastics: 

• Global production of plastics has increased twenty-fold since the 1960s, reaching 322 million tons in 2015. It is expected to double again over the next 20 years.

• In the EU, the plastics sector employs 1.5 million people and generated a turnover of EUR 340 billion in 2015.

• Around 25.8 million tons of plastic waste are generated in Europe every year. Less than 30% of such waste is collected for recycling.

• 95 % of the value of plastic packaging material, i.e. between EUR 70 and 105 billion annually, is lost to the economy after a very short first-use cycle

• plastics production and the incineration of plastic waste give rise globally to approximately 400 million tons of CO2 a year

• Globally, 5 to 13 million tons of plastics — 1.5 to 4% of global plastics production — end up in the oceans every year.

• Between 75 000 and 300 000 tons of micro-plastics are released into the environment each year in the EU.