The Plastics & Climate Project
Identifying the data gaps to account for all the climate impacts of plastics
Publications
The Plastics & Climate Project publications on the climate impacts of plastics.
Plastics: Exposing Their Climate Impacts, What we know, what need to know, & recommendations for research and policy
This is the first report to comprehensively assess the existing peer-reviewed data on the climate impacts of plastics. The report analyzes existing peer-reviewed data, identifies critical data gaps, lays out a roadmap for continued research, and recommends policies and actions to support that research and to include plastics’ climate impacts in relevant models, scenarios, accounting, and analyses.
The report is authored by leading experts from The Plastics and Climate Project, Holly Kaufman, Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute, Dr. Xia (Alice) Zhu, a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Ocean Sciences, Memorial University of Newfoundland), and the Environmental Law Institute (Cecilia Diedrich, Staff Attorney, and Dr. John Doherty, Science and Policy Analyst), with key input from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Dr. Karen Raubenheimer, University of Wollongong, Australia. The report is a non-technical summary of The Project’s peer-reviewed paper, “The knowns and unknowns in our understanding of how plastics impact climate change: A systematic review,” published in April 2025 in Frontiers of Environmental Science.
Read the full report.
Read the executive summary.
Read the press release.
Read the report brief.
Read the Washington Post article.
Read the Frontiers in Science paper.
Plastics are not just a “waste” problem, where visible trash accumulates in ocean gyres and garbage dumps, continually leaching harmful chemicals and shedding micro- and nano-plastic particles that also affect human health. Plastics are also a climate problem. Current data indicate that plastics account for at least 4% of global GHG emissions. Plastics and petrochemicals are the fossil fuel industry’s “Plan B" as demand for their conventional products wanes. Plastic production is expected to triple by 2060. As such, emissions and other impacts are projected to rise considerably.
These publications outline the current understanding of how plastics affect the climate across their lifecycle, through the emission of greenhouse gases, impacts on the carbon cycle, and through radiative effects. The authors highlight significant data gaps in quantifying these impacts and propose a research agenda to address these shortcomings. They emphasize the need for more comprehensive studies on greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of the plastic lifecycle, the effects of plastic pollution on carbon sinks in various ecosystems, and the influence of plastic particles on Earth's energy balance.
The Plastics & Climate Project has compiled an annotated repository of climate-relevant plastic impacts. It is an ever-growing compendium of peer-reviewed papers, other reports, and articles reviewed and grouped into the three major categories of impacts.
Please access it here.
The report offers recommendations for public and private sector actions to spur the needed research and to ensure that the climate impacts of plastics are considered in relevant assessments and policies. The findings and proposals are intended to raise awareness and motivate action by policymakers, scientists, industry, investors, educators, and non-governmental and community representatives.
The Plastics & Climate Project hopes to launch a strategic and extensive outreach campaign to disseminate their findings and recommendations. The Project is also in discussion with several key institutions about conducting some of the needed scientific research to fill in the data gaps, and plans to continually update the free, online repository of resources on the plastics/climate nexus. Your support is needed to pursue these efforts, and much appreciated.
Please donate here or contact us.