August 12, 2022
The U.S. Plastics Supply Chain shows how plastics are made in the U.S. Click on Responsible Alpha's dashboard and see where and who makes plastics in the U.S. You can trace a bottle back through its production line.
Use Responsible Alpha's filters to determine what companies are producing which plastics, where they are made, and what are the majority of types of plastics that are being produced.
In 2019, the largest plastics producers included ExxonMobil, Dow, LyondellBasell, Westlake Chemical, and Formosa Plastics. These companies refineries are primarily along the Chemical Coast, along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, where 84% of U.S. plastics production, across the sector’s supply chain, is located.
The chemicals that make up the plastics used laundry detergent containers, PVC pipes, single-use drink cups, jugs, and plastic wraps - HDPE, PVC, Polypropylene, and LLDPE - are the plastics primarily produced along the Chemical Coast.
Finally, since 1950, companies have made more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic, the equivalent of 2 billion African elephants. Discarded packaging accounts for 46% (158 million tons) of total annual plastic waste generation (Geyer 2020 and UNEP 2021). Most plastic packaging waste comes from household waste. Waste plastic packaging is polluting our oceans, air, and land.