There is a plethora of good information on the web about atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, the carbon cycle and the global balance of the past 1,000 years versus the last 100. I have found much of it nestled in betwixt the ongoing debates as to whether humanity has increased our carbon footprint for us or to future generations' detriment - or not. But it is agreed that most human made carbon emissions, of course, result from petroleum production and associated products.
That leads us to the ever-present plastic products which surround us.
On this matter I have found the details a little more elusive - specifically the breakdowns of carbon emissions per a given quantity of each type of plastic, for instance, and what I have found, once again, was scattered across mounds of debates - in this case the "carbonic" impact of petroleum-based plastics versus bio-plastics.
The difficulty in obtaining a really accurate accounting is understandable - The number of plants in production, the variability in contracts and order sizes from day to month per year, the transport part of equation - all have to be considered.
Without taking a side, I took a different approach and sought to bring together some information about petroleum based plastics -- not for the actual carbon footprint in the U.S., but for our total production capacity. This information is detailed in the following chart. Coming soon: Capacities for Bio-plastics.
U.S. Plastics Production and Carbon Dioxide Emissions Capacity
| Type of Plastic | Number of U.S. Facilities* | Total U.S. Capacity per year* | KG CO2 per KG of Product | Conversion: Pounds CO2 Per Pound of Product: | Total Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Tons | Sources for KG CO2 per KG of Product | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per Year | Per Month | Per Day | ||||||
| PET | 29 | 10,318,000,000 Pounds 5,159,000 Tons |
3.4 | 7.5 lbs | 38,692,500 | 3,224,375 | 106,006 | DATA SOURCE |
| LDPE Low Density Polyethylene | 15 | 8,270,000,000 pounds 4,135,000 tons |
6 | 13.2 | 5,458,000 | 454,833 | 14,953 | DATA SOURCE |
| HDPE High Density Polyethylene | 24 | 27,345,000,000 Pounts 13,672,500 tons |
.049 | .12 | 16,407,000 | 1,367,250 | 44,950 | DATA SOURCE |
| Polypropylene | 65 | 39,320,000,000 pounds 19,660,000 tons |
3.14 | 6.9 | 135,654,000 | 11,304,500 | 371,654 | DATA SOURCE |
| Polystyrene | 24 | 7,215,000,000 pounds 3,607,500 tons |
2.7 | 7.29 | 26,298,675 | 2,191,556 | 72,051 | DATA SOURCE |
| Polyvinyl Chloride | 22 | 16,705,000,000 pounds 8,352,500tons |
1.8 | 3.96 | 33,075,900 | 2,756,325 | 90,618 | DATA SOURCE |
| TOTALS | 255,586,075 | 21,298,839 | 700,232 | |||||
*Number of Facilities and Capacity per Year in Millions of Pounds Found at: http://www.the-innovation-group.com/chemprofile.htm