The Plastics & Climate Project

Scientists know that plastics - and the petrochemicals in them, have climate change impacts. But we don’t know how much of a temperature rise they may cause. [1] With increasing plastic production, use, and waste generation, these climate impacts will also increase. Even many “bio” and "compostable" plastics affect the climate, but it is unclear to what extent. In addition, a number of climate impacts from plastics are not included in any greenhouse gas emissions inventories, climate models, or scenarios, including those published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

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Therefore, the goal of The Plastics & Climate Project is to help estimate the extent to which plastics and their associated petrochemicals contribute to the global average temperature rise. In working towards achieving this goal, the Project has conducted a systematic review of peer-reviewed scientific literature to identify critical data gaps, developed an agenda for the necessary continued research, and recommended policies and actions to support that research and to include plastics’ climate impacts in relevant analyses.

The result of these efforts is our peer-reviewed paper, “The knowns and unknowns in our understanding of how plastics impact climate change: a systematic review” published in Frontiers in Environmental Science, and a summary report for non-technical audiences, "Plastics: Exposing Their Climate Impacts, What we know, what we need to know, & recommendations for research and policy." With these publications, we can share our findings with the scientific community, policymakers, educators, businesses, investors, and advocates. Our plan is to generate support for the necessary subsequent research and inclusion of climate-relevant plastic impacts in relevant accounting, modeling, and scenarios. An advisory board composed of science and policy experts has provided input at key points throughout the Project and helped foster communication and coordination among other people and institutions working on complementary issues.