Winter is coming: Plastic has to go

New report reveals the urgency to cut plastic production to reduce the European Union’s dependence on fossil fuels and Russian oil and gas.

As the EU faces a looming gas shortage, EU countries are looking to consumers to shoulder the brunt of reductions and are pursuing deals to secure new fossil fuel supplies. At the same time, policymakers are leaving the plastics and petrochemicals sector — the single largest driver of the increase in global oil and gas demand — untouched. A new report from Break Free From Plastic and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) explores the European market for plastics and petrochemicals, arguing that the EU, which sources nearly 40% of its gas and over 20% of its oil from Russia, can advance energy security by making cuts to these energy intensive industries.

 

“Plastics and petrochemicals are the largest industrial oil, gas, and electricity users in the EU, with nearly 40% of that energy going towards producing plastic packaging alone. Not including this sector in the “Save Gas for a Safer Winter” plan is a serious oversight. While families and small businesses are facing skyrocketing energy bills, the petrochemicals industry is wasting scarce resources to produce unnecessary single-use plastic, fueling the EU energy crisis,” said Delphine Lévi Alvarès, European Coordinator of the Break Free From Plastic movement.

The report’s main findings

• Plastic production was responsible for nearly 9% and 8% of the EU’s final fossil gas and oil consumption in 2020. This is about as much as the final gas consumption in the Netherlands and almost as much as the final oil consumption of Italy in 2020.

• Plastic production is the most energy- and feedstock-intensive of the petrochemicals industry’s processes. Plastic packaging alone accounts for 40% of the end market for plastic products in the EU, about as much as Hungary’s final gas and Sweden and Denmark’s combined oil consumption in 2020.

• Nearly 15% of the final gas and 14% of the final oil consumption in 2020 in the EU 27 were used to manufacture petrochemicals.

• In the EU in 2020, 38% of the gas and 22% of the oil came from Russia, making the energy-intensive petrochemical industry significantly reliant on Russian fossil fuels.

• Together, Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland are responsible for 75% of oil and 81% of final gas consumption, and 77% of all plastic packaging waste in the EU.

As the plastics industry plans to double its gas and oil-based production over the next 20 years, the report finds that this growth is incompatible with achieving the EU’s goals, including those laid out in the Green Deal, binding climate targets to keep global warming under 1.5°C, and efforts to tackle plastic pollution.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine lays bare the danger of our global dependence on fossil fuels. Expecting individual consumer action is an inadequate and disproportionate response to the scale and intensity of the crisis at hand,“ said Lili Fuhr, Deputy Director of CIEL’s Climate & Energy Program. “EU leaders must stop their neocolonialist hunt for new sources of fossil fuels and instead confront the problem head-on by immediately reducing the production of plastic, starting with unnecessary single-use plastic packaging to save gas.”

The report details concrete policy recommendations for the EU to reduce fossil fuel use for petrochemical and plastic production through ambitious prevention and reuse policies. These include regional action and efforts to step up ambition on upstream measures during upcoming negotiations on a legally-binding global plastic treaty.

“With a 50% reduction of plastic packaging and a 90% rate of recycling, we could save the equivalent of the Czech Republic’s annual oil and gas consumption. This is a huge opportunity for the EU to address the energy, climate and plastic pollution crises at once.” said Lévi Alvarès. “It’s time for the EU to demonstrate real leadership. For a safer winter, plastic has to go.”

Background

Break Free From Plastic is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in September 2016, over 1,900 non-governmental organisations and individuals from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. These organisations share the common values of environmental protection and social justice, which guide their work at the community level and represent a global, unified vision. In Europe, Break Free From Plastic has more than 100 core member organisations covering all European subregions and with expertise all along the plastics value chain.

Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is a not-for-profit legal organisation that uses the power of law to protect the environment, promote human rights, and ensure a just and sustainable society. CIEL pursues its mission through legal research and advocacy, education and training, with a focus on connecting global challenges to the experiences of communities on the ground. In the process, we build and maintain lasting partnerships with communities and non-profit organisations around the world.