The amount of plastic the world has manufactured between 1950, when mass production started, until 2015 is estimated at 8.3 billion tonnes. Yet, the world makes and uses more plastic each year, with 367 million tonnes manufactured in 2020, most of which is used in packaging and construction, and production is forecast to double by 2040.

By 2050, a century after mass production started, researchers predict the total amount of plastics made could have reached more than 25 billion tonnes: in the next 35 years twice as much plastic will be produced as in the first 65 and as much as 12 billion tonnes of plastic waste could be in landfills or in the environment by that year.

The figure some from the Plastics Management Index (PMI), created by Back to Blue, an initiative of Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation, which aims to give attention to growing global concerns around the use of plastic and highlighting how its management can be made sustainable.

The PMI compares and contrasts the efforts made by a selection of 25 countries at different stages of development in their management of plastics, covering the entire lifecycle of plastic products.

Germany is the top performer overall in plastics management. Among the reasons for its overall ranking are its recycling scheme, on which government and industry have worked to build a circular economy for plastics; its global leadership on plastics management that it couples with a proactive domestic approach; and a diverse approach to stakeholder engagement that feeds into government action. The UK is fourth, behind Japan and France and ahead of the US.

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