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Plastics: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Asked by Alex SobelLabour (Co-op)Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled Answered 10 September 2024UIN 3776

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will make an assessment of the contribution of the plastic production industry to the level of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the UK in (a) 2024 and (b) in the next ten years.

Answered by Michael Shanks

The department does not produce specific emissions estimates for the plastic production industry, however our greenhouse gas (GHG) territorial (i.e. occurring within the UK’s borders) emissions statistics by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) includes a category for plastics products. The latest year for which data is available is 2022, when GHG emissions from manufacture of plastic products was 2,266 kilotonnes carbon dioxide equivalent (kt CO2e).

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/final-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-1990-to-2022

The department publishes Energy & Emissions Projections however these do not include an emissions split for plastic products.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-and-emissions-projections

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