China the world’s biggest plastic producer

A child rests in a pool of plastic balls at a mall in Beijing, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Seven countries produced two-thirds of the four most common types of plastic in 2024, according to the British environmental consultancy Eunomia and the Zero Carbon Analytics a climate and energy research group.

But China stands in a category of its own, making as much as the next six countries combined, the figures show.

The figures were released as 184 countries try to find common ground at negotiations in Geneva on a first-ever treaty aimed at ending the scourge of plastic pollution.

The Eunomia and Zero Carbon Analytics study focuses on production of among the most widely-used types of virgin polymers: polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET) typically used in drinks bottles, and polystyrene (PS).

China was responsible for 34 percent of production of the big four polymers last year, the study said, well ahead of the United States (13 percent) and Saudi Arabia (five percent).

Next comes South Korea, also on five percent, India on four percent, Japan on three percent and Germany on two percent.

According to an older study by energy data provider Wood Mackenzie, plastic production is concentrated among a clutch of giant companies, some of which are state-owned.

It said just 18 companies worldwide produced more than half of the world’s plastic polymers in 2021.

Wood Mackenzie said the world’s leading producer is China’s state-owned Sinopec -- the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation -- which alone produces 5.4 percent of the world’s plastic.

It is followed by US oil and gas giant ExxonMobil (five percent), US multinational chemical company LyondellBasell (4.5 percent), oil giant Saudi Aramco (4.3 percent) and PetroChina (4.2 percent).

The leading European producers are Britain’s Ineos (2.8 percent) in seventh place, Austria’s Borealis in 10th place on 2.3 percent, and France’s TotalEnergies 11th at two percent.