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PP, PVC, etc.), 13 types of applications (e.g. packaging, building and construction, and personal care products) and 11 geographical regions (e.g. Western Europe, North America, and China). The global mapping shows that the majority of plastics are produced in China, North America, and Western Europe with 28%, 19%, and 19%, respectively. These regions are also the major plastics consumers with 20%, 21%, and 18% for China, North America, and Western Europe, respectively. The most used plastic polymers are polypropylene (PP; 16%), low density polyethylene & linear low density polyethylene (LDPE, LLDPE; 12%), polyvinylchloride (PVC; 11%), high density polyethylene (HDPE; 10%), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET; 5%) which in total account for more than 50% of total plastics usage. The main applications of plastics are for packaging, building & construction, and transportation which cover 30%, 17%, and 14%, respectively, of total plastics usage in 2015. | Plastic losses from the plastic value chain The estimations of plastic losses throughout the plastic value chain were based on available sources of information from the plastic industry and scientific literature. First, information on losses was drawn from the previous but more restricted (i.e. restricted to specific plastic type, location in value, chain or geographical location) assessments on plastic losses related to different value chain stages. To obtain a comprehensive global assessment, data gaps were filled using information from scientifically based literature to derive estimates of losses from other value chain stages. Plastic losses related to polymer production and final plastic commodity production were assumed similar across regions as the plastic production technology was assumed to be independent of the country of production. Virgin plastic pellets are lost during production, handling, and transportation of the plastics. Losses occurring indoor as part of production, were modelled as going to the drain of the production With a particular focus on marine environment facility while losses during handling and transportation were assumed to go directly to the environment. Macroplastic losses related to plastic usage included the littering of plastics, including loss of fishing nets, and other losses related to fishing and maritime activities. Microplastic losses related to plastic usage included microbeads from use of cosmetics and personal care products, rubber from tyre abrasion, weathering of marine coatings, microfibers from washing of textiles, abrasion of road markings, and city dust which include abrasion of plastics from e.g. shoe soles, exterior paints, and road markings. Losses were modelled using region-specific information, such as the share of population connected to wastewater treatment and wastewater treatment technology level. Information on plastic losses related to the end- of-life treatment of plastic using applications was generally lacking and could only be estimated for plastic applications likely to be treated as part of the MSW fraction, i.e. packaging, electronics, consumer & institutional products (e.g. dinner and kitchenware, toys and sporting goods), and textiles (e.g. clothing). The annual MSW generation, the share of plastic in the MSW, and the waste treatment distribution were determined for each region. Mismanaged waste was defined as open dumping as well as landfilling in low income countries. Based on previous studies, it was assumed that 10% of the mismanaged plastic waste is lost to the environment. A number of potentially important sources of plastic losses could not be quantified due to lack of data. A potential key source is the loss of plastics related to use of floats and other equipment from e.g. marinas and aquaculture. These may be important in terms of micro- and macroplastics as these losses go directly to the oceans and are often made from polystyrene where potential leachate of residual styrene monomers pose a hazard risk to marine organisms. Overall, it was found that about 3.0 and 5.3 Mt of micro- and macroplastics, respectively, are annually lost to the environment. The primary sources of microplastic losses can be attributed to abrasion of tyres and city dust, which include abrasion of plastics from e.g. shoe Mapping of global plastics value chain and plastics losses to the environment Technical summary | 11PDF Image | Mapping of global plastics value chain
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