Plastics are a carbon scofflaw, study finds

A study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory finds that, in 2019, production of virgin plastic spewed about 2.24 billion metric tons (t) of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere, or 5.3% of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. That same year, emissions from aviation and shipping came to 1.32 billion t, and emissions from landfills and wastewater treatment totaled 1.63 billion t, according to the open data site Climate Watch . If the plastics industry continues to grow, the researchers estimate, plastics production could end up contributing between 21% and 31% of total GHG emissions. The researchers, Nihan Karali, Nina Khanna, and Nihar Shah, focused on nine types of plastic made from fossil fuels that together represent about 80% of global production. With their model, the scientists found that most of the emissions come from steps that happen before the starting materials go through polymerization. Creating monomers is the source of