Special Report
This Company Produces the Most Plastic Waste in the World
Published:
While some forms of plastic break down in 20 years, others take as long as 500. Millions of tons of plastic make their way into oceans each year. The company that produces the most plastic is Exxon Mobil.
Plastic waste has become one of the greatest environmental disasters in history, and it is unlikely to end any time soon. Plastic is used in numerous items used by consumers and companies.
Efforts to reverse the situation amount to a drop in the ocean. Plastic recycling programs are better than nothing, but they are hardly a panacea. A 2019 peer-reviewed study in the journal Science Advances concluded that only 9% of plastic gets recycled and that most of the rest ends up in landfills and the natural environment, including oceans. You won’t believe how deep ocean plastic is found.
Worse still, production of single-use plastics is predicted by some sources to increase by 30% over the next five years.
To identify the company generating the most waste from single-use plastic manufacturing, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed 2019 data from “The Plastic Waste Makers Index,” published in 2021 by the Minderoo Foundation, an Australia-based philanthropic organization.
U.S.-based oil and gas giant, Exxon Mobil, generated 6.5 million tons of single-use plastic waste in 2019 — the most of any company. The company had revenue of $178.2 billion in 2020 and a loss of $22.4 billion, based on Forbes figures.
Producers of consumer products are the main culprits of single-use plastic waste. Break Free From Plastic, a global network of environmentalists that audits discarded plastic waste, names Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé as the top global polluters of plastic waste. (Some of these companies are among the world’s most valuable brands.)
But companies like this don’t actually produce the raw materials that become your shampoo bottle, single-serving water bottle, or takeaway food container and utensils. The raw materials for these and other disposable consumer plastics are pellet-sized polymers produced by the global petroleum industry. And many of the companies on this list are oil and gas and chemical companies.
Click here to see the companies that produce the most plastic waste around the world
Methodology
To identify the company generating the most waste from single-use plastic manufacturing, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed data in “The Plastic Waste Makers Index,” published this year by the Minderoo Foundation, an Australia-based philanthropy. Companies are ranked on the plastic waste generated in 2019, measured in millions of tons (converted from metric tons). Most recently available annual revenue and profit figures came from the Forbes Global 2000, a list of the world’s largest 2,000 public companies in the world, as well as from publicly available financial documents. (Figures in a foreign currency were converted to U.S. dollars.)
50. Bakhtar Petrochemical
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: Iran
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
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49. MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: Hungary
> Annual revenue: $13 billion
> Annual profit: -$51.8 million
48. JBF Industries
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: India
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
47. Octal
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: Oman
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
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46. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: India
> Annual revenue: $48.4 billion
> Annual profit: $19.3 billion
45. SK Innovation Co
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: South Korea
> Annual revenue: $29 billion
> Annual profit: -$1.8 billion
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44. Nan Ya Plastics Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.6 million tons
> Country: Taiwan
> Annual revenue: $10.3 billion
> Annual profit: $1.5 billion
43. Indian Oil Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: India
> Annual revenue: $48.9 billion
> Annual profit: $651.5 million
42. Repsol
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: Spain
> Annual revenue: $37.9 billion
> Annual profit: -$3.7 billion
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41. Yanchang Group
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
40. Eni
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: Italy
> Annual revenue: $50.1 billion
> Annual profit: -$9.8 billion
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39. Zhejiang Hengyi Group
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
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38. Sasol
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: South Africa
> Annual revenue: $11.1 billion
> Annual profit: -$4.9 billion
37. Mitsui Chemicals
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: Japan
> Annual revenue: $11.2 billion
> Annual profit: $410.4 million
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36. Westlake Chemical Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.7 million tons
> Country: United States
> Annual revenue: $7.5 billion
> Annual profit: $329.0 million
35. LG Chem
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.8 million tons
> Country: South Korea
> Annual revenue: $25.8 billion
> Annual profit: $434.5 million
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34. GAIL India
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.8 million tons
> Country: India
> Annual revenue: $8 billion
> Annual profit: $1.1 billion
33. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.9 million tons
> Country: United Arab Emirates
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
32. SIBUR
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.9 million tons
> Country: Russia
> Annual revenue: $7 billion
> Annual profit: $1.3 billion
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31. Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.9 million tons
> Country: Japan
> Annual revenue: $30 billion
> Annual profit: -$655.9 million
30. Rongsheng Group
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.9 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: $14 billion
> Annual profit: $858.1 million
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29. China Coal
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 0.9 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: $20.5 billion
> Annual profit: $775.1 million
28. Hanwha Chemical
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.0 million tons
> Country: South Korea
> Annual revenue: $43.2 billion
> Annual profit: $181.2 million
27. Chevron Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.0 million tons
> Country: United States
> Annual revenue: $94.4 billion
> Annual profit: -$5.5 billion
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26. Jiangyin Chengxing Industrial Group
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.0 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
25. Sumitomo Chemical
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.1 million tons
> Country: Japan
> Annual revenue: $20.8 billion
> Annual profit: $143.1 million
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24. Zhejiang Wankai
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.1 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
23. Phillips 66
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.1 million tons
> Country: United States
> Annual revenue: $63.7 billion
> Annual profit: -$4 billion
22. Siam Cement Group
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.2 million tons
> Country: Thailand
> Annual revenue: $12.8 billion
> Annual profit: $1.1 billion
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21. Nova Chemicals Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.3 million tons
> Country: Canada
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
20. China Resources
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.4 million tons
> Country: Hong Kong
> Annual revenue: $7.2 billion
> Annual profit: $664.2 million
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19. PTT
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.7 million tons
> Country: Thailand
> Annual revenue: $51.6 billion
> Annual profit: $1.2 billion
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18. China Energy Investment Group
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.7 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
17. Formosa Plastics Corporation
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.8 million tons
> Country: Taiwan
> Annual revenue: $7.1 billion
> Annual profit: $1.2 billion
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16. Far Eastern New Century
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.8 million tons
> Country: Taiwan
> Annual revenue: $7 billion
> Annual profit: $273.8 million
15. Jiangsu Hailun Petrochemical
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 1.8 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
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14. Total
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 2.1 million tons
> Country: France
> Annual revenue: $119.7 billion
> Annual profit: -$7.6 billion
13. INEOS
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 2.2 million tons
> Country: England
> Annual revenue: N/A
> Annual profit: N/A
12. Lotte Chemical
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 2.3 million tons
> Country: South Korea
> Annual revenue: $10.4 billion
> Annual profit: $134.3 million
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11. Borealis
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 2.4 million tons
> Country: Austria
> Annual revenue: $8.1 billion
> Annual profit: $698.3 million
10. Alpek SA de CV
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 2.5 million tons
> Country: Mexico
> Annual revenue: $114 billion
> Annual profit: $11.7 billion
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9. Braskem
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 3.3 million tons
> Country: Brazil
> Annual revenue: $11.4 billion
> Annual profit: -$1.3 billion
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8. Reliance Industries
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 3.4 million tons
> Country: India
> Annual revenue: $61.2 billion
> Annual profit: $5.7 billion
7. LyondellBasell
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 4.3 million tons
> Country: United Kingdom
> Annual revenue: $27.7 billion
> Annual profit: $1.4 billion
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6. PetroChina
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 4.4 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: $280.7 billion
> Annual profit: $2.9 billion
5. Saudi Aramco
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 4.7 million tons
> Country: Saudi Arabia
> Annual revenue: $229.7 billion
> Annual profit: $49.3 billion
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4. Indorama Ventures
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 5.1 million tons
> Country: Thailand
> Annual revenue: $10.6 billion
> Annual profit: $53.2 million
3. Sinopec
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 5.8 million tons
> Country: China
> Annual revenue: $271.1 billion
> Annual profit: $4.8 billion
2. Dow
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 6.2 million tons
> Country: United States
> Annual revenue: $38.5 billion
> Annual profit: $1.2 billion
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1. ExxonMobil
> Single-use plastic waste generated in 2019: 6.5 million tons
> Country: United States
> Annual revenue: $178.2 billion
> Annual profit: -$22.4 billion
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