New research reveals that the 380 million tonnes of plastic produced annually represents an enormous untapped resource. Researchers at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Imperial College London have calculated that properly collected and processed plastic waste could substitute for approximately 12% of global fossil fuel demand if converted to energy or chemical feedstocks.
The feedstock argument
Chemical recycling technologies — pyrolysis, gasification, solvolysis — can convert mixed plastic waste into pyrolysis oil, syngas, or monomers that substitute virgin petrochemicals. BASF ChemCycling and Dow Hefty EnergyBag represent early industrial-scale pilots, both purchasing Verra-verified plastic credits to supplement their feedstock supply chains.
Market implications
If plastic waste is genuinely valuable as a feedstock, the long-run price of plastic credits should converge with the commodity value of the output material, not the cost of collection alone. This implies significant price upside for high-quality, verified credits.