Closing the Plastic Tap — Global Plastic Waste and the Circular Economy. A Multi-Regional Hybrid Input-Output Analysis of Plastic Waste Footprints

Abstract: Plastic pollution is a cross-national environmental and societal challenge that needs to be addressed from the point of view of global supply chains. The circular economy (CE) has emerged as an alternative paradigm to the traditional “take-make-waste” models of production and consumption to create a closed-loop system so that plastic is trapped in the economy and not in the environment. This research calculates the plastic waste footprint of 48 countries and regions and 164 products by developing a multi-regional environmentally extended input-output model that traces plastic waste generated directly and indirectly by economic activities throughout the global supply chain. A particularity of this study is the implementation of EXIOBASE 3 hybrid-units input-output tables. The assessment of plastic waste footprints provides an opportunity to identify hotspots both upstream and downstream in the supply chain to advance in the CE for plastics. The results show that China holds the largest plastic waste footprint which is equal to 36 Mt of plastic waste. However, when per capita levels are considered, the consumption in high-income countries has a relatively major role in the generation of plastic waste. In addition, this study confirms that, globally, landfilling is the most common treatment method for plastic waste which is detrimental for the CE. The results of this work also show a reallocation of plastic waste from primary and production sectors towards end of value chain sectors such as services and trade when the indirect effects given plastic-intensive processes upstream in the supply chain that generate waste are accounted for.