Fig. 2: Value-chain analysis of the fossil resource footprint of global plastics production, including the extraction of fossil resources used as a fuel and feedstock for plastics production.

a–d, The sum of each horizontal bar of the flow chart on the left refers to the fossil resource footprint of global plastics production in 2015 (540 Mt in 2015, 100%) and allocates it to the different perspectives in the global value chain: type of extracted fossil resource (a); region where fossil resources are extracted (b); region where fossil resources are used for plastics production (as fuel or feedstock) (c); region where plastics are consumed (d). The small graphs on the right show the temporal evolution of the fossil fuel footprint of global plastics production for each perspective (a–d) over the past two decades. The colours of the graphs on the right correspond to the bars of the flow chart. The red line in each represents the global share. EU, European Union; ME, Middle East; SA, South Africa; USA, United States; OR, other regions.