Don’t count on boom in plastics, oil industry is warned

RISING DEMAND for plastics will not come to the rescue of the oil industry, a think- tank has warned, as the world instead moves to tackle waste, pollution and climate change.

The oil and petrochemical industry is betting on a growth in demand for plastics made from fossil fuels, financial body Carbon Tracker claims, as oil use starts to slow.

Some studies suggested plastics could drive a growth in demand of between 45 per cent and 95 per cent for oil up to 2040, with Carbon Tracker believing the oil industry is “tooling up” for growth with plans to invest £ 300bn in expanding production.

But its new study suggests mounting pressure to tackle the “plastics problem” could slash such growth from a forecast four per cent to just one per cent.

That would put many billions of pounds of investors’ money at risk, according to the report produced with SYSTEMIQ, a company focused on changing material, land and energy systems.

“Remove the plastic pillar holding up the future of the oil industry, and the whole narrative of rising oil demand collapses,” said Kingsmill Bond, energy strategist and report lead author.

There is rising recognition of a greener approach to plastics use across Europe, with Asda among the latest to announce it is removing plastic fruit and veg bags from some of its stories.

The supermarket giant is to bring in the measures from Monday at nine stores, in a trial which aims to help it curb plastic pollution. It will use ‘ Veggio’ bags made from recycled bottles instead. The move could save 141 tonnes of plastic a year, it believes, equating to more than 3.5 million bags.