Chemical solutions: can polymer value chains decarbonise?

As the world gears up for COP 26 in Glasgow in November, countries around the world are announcing ever more stringent decarbonisation goals. While these are focused on country-level reductions, the impact of these objectives – if they are to be hit – will fall upon the industries operating in each territory. This challenge will fall particularly hard on the polymer and plastic value chains, with carbon embedded in the product and integral to the production processes that create it. Consequently, under our base case scenario, emissions from the industry rise by 88% by 2050. This Insight explores the opportunities and challenges facing the industry, looking at where interventions can be made across the value chain – including feedstock selection, process emissions, material selection, application design, and end-of-life treatments. It also looks at two alternative scenarios, where the industry takes action to drive emissions down, and the impact that this has on energy demand.