These are the 30 companies at the base of the supply chain responsible for the most single-use plastics, and ultimately the most plastic waste in the world.
The planet is overrun by plastic.
Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, half of which is used to create single-use items such as shopping bags, cups and straws.
At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic is found on the shorelines of every continent, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Microplastics have been found in tap water, beer, salt and recently in the human bloodstream.
Plastic, a synthetic organic polymer, is made from petroleum, and just 20 companies are the source of more than half of the single-use plastics in the world.
The Plastic Waste Makers Index is a study by Australia’s philanthropic Minderoo Foundation that identifies the source of the world’s single-use plastic waste. It names the 20 petrochemical companies who generate more than half the world’s single-use plastic waste, and the global financial institutions backing them.
The report aims to increase transparency along the entire plastics supply chain, beyond the brands like Coca-Cola named as the No. 1 contributor to plastic pollution globally. Polymers are the building blocks of plastic, and polymer producers are the gatekeepers of plastic production.
According to the report, the index also serves as a tool to assist the companies named to assess their single-use plastic footprint and to measure progress against their own sustainability goals, in moving from virgin fossil fuel sources to more circular models. A circular economy is one that emphasizes sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling, rather than a linear model in which resources are collected, used and thrown away.
>> See: The Countries That Produce the Most Plastic Waste
With pressure on financial institutions to move capital away from public companies that perform negatively against ESG criteria, the analysis identifies which classes of shareholders (institutional asset managers, state/ sovereign owners, private individuals/institutions) hold what value of equity in the companies producing single-use plastic, and their estimated contribution to plastic waste.
The report addresses only single-use plastics. Types of plastic included in the study are:
PET: Mostly used for food and drink packaging, including plastic bottlesHDPE: Dense and thick plastic commonly used as grocery bags, opaque milk and juice containers, shampoo bottles and medicine bottles.LLDPE: Plastic film and sheetingLDPE: The most-used family of plastics in the world, LDPE is used for bags (grocery, dry cleaning, bread, frozen food bags, newspapers, garbage) plastic wraps; coatings for paper milk cartons and hot & cold beverage cups; some squeezable bottles (honey, mustard), food storage containers and container lidsPP: Used for hot food containers and in disposable diapers.
These polymers represented 87%, or 115 million metric tons of total single-use plastic volumes in 2019.
According to Minderoo’s report, these are the 30 companies at the base of the supply chain responsible for the most single-use plastics, and ultimately the most plastic waste in the world. The list includes companies such as ExxonMobile (XOM) – Get Exxon Mobil Corporation Report, Dow (DOW) – Get Dow Inc. Report, and Chevron (CVX) – Get Chevron Corporation Report. The most recent data is from November 2021. The contribution to single-use plastic waste factors in the efforts of these companies to reduce plastic pollution.
1. ExxonMobil
Irving, Texas
No. of production sites: 55 Polymers produced in 2019: 11.2 million metric tons Total contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 5.9 million metric tons
2. Sinopec
China
No. of production sites: 81Polymers produced in 2019: 11.5 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 5.6 million metric tons
3. Dow
Midland, Michigan
No. of production sites: 54Polymers produced in 2019: 9.3 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 5.6 million metric tons
4. Indorama Ventures
Thailand
No. of production sites: 26Polymers produced in 2019: 5.1 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 4.6 million metric tons
5. Saudi Aramco
Saudi Arabia
No. of production sites: 56Polymers produced in 2019: 9.5 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 4.3 million metric tons
6. PetroChina
China
No. of production sites: 59Polymers produced in 2019: 8.8 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 4 million metric tons
7. LyondellBasell
Netherlands
No. of production sites: 69Polymers produced in 2019: 9.3 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 3.9 million metric tons
8. Reliance Industries
India
No. of production sites: 26Polymers produced in 2019: 5.5 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 3.1 million metric tons
9. Braskem
Brazil
No. of production sites: 40Polymers produced in 2019: 6.7 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 3 million metric tons
10. Alpek
Mexico
No. of production sites: 12Polymers produced in 2019: 2.5 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2.3 million metric tons
11. Borealis
Austria
No. of production sites: 29Polymers produced in 2019: 5 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2.2 million metric tons
12. Lotte Chemical
South Korea
No. of production sites: 26Polymers produced in 2019: 4.1 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2.1 million metric tons
13. INEOS
United Kingdom
No. of production sites: 27Polymers produced in 2019: 4.8 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 2 million metric tons
14. TotalEnergies
France
No. of production sites: 33Polymers produced in 2019: 4.5 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.9 million metric tons
15. Jiangsu Hailun Petrochemical
China
No. of production sites: 1Polymers produced in 2019: 1.7 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.6 million metric tons
16. Far Eastern New Century
Taiwan
No. of production sites: 7Polymers produced in 2019: 1.6 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.6 million metric tons
Far Eastern New Century
17. Formosa Plastics Corporation
Taiwan
No. of production sites: 22Polymers produced in 2019: 3.6 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.6 million metric tons
18. China Energy Investment Group
China
No. of production sites: 12Polymers produced in 2019: 3.4 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.5 million metric tons
19. PTT
Thailand
No. of production sites: 17Polymers produced in 2019: 3.1 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.5 million metric tons
20. China Resources
China
No. of production sites: 4Polymers produced in 2019: 1.4 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.3 million metric tons
21. Nova Chemicals Corporation
Canada
No. of production sites: 8Polymers produced in 2019: 1.9 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.2 million metric tons
Nova Chemicals
22. Siam Cement Group
Thailand
No. of production sites: 20Polymers produced in 2019: 2.4 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1.1 million metric tons
23. Phillips 66
Houston, Texas
No. of production sites: 22Polymers produced in 2019: 2.4 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1 million metric tons
24. Zhejiang Wankai
China
No. of production sites: 1Polymers produced in 2019: 1 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1 million metric tons
25. Sumitomo Chemical
Japan
No. of production sites: 23Polymers produced in 2019: 2 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 1 million metric tons
26. Jiangyin Chengxing Industrial Group
China
No. of production sites: 1Polymers produced in 2019: 1 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.9 million metric tons
27. Chevron Corporation
San Ramon, California
No. of production sites: 23Polymers produced in 2019: 2.2 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.9 million metric tons
28. Hanwha Chemical
South Korea
No. of production sites: 16Polymers produced in 2019: 1.6 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.9 million metric tons
29. China Coal
China
No. of production sites: 12Polymers produced in 2019: 1.8 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.8 million metric tons
30. Rongsheng Group
China
No. of production sites: 4Polymers produced in 2019: 1.2 million metric tonsTotal contribution to single-use plastic waste (2019): 0.8 million metric tons
See the full list of the 100 polymer producers that generate 90% of all single-use plastic waste in the world at Minderoo.org.
