Study on China’s Plastic Consumption Trend and Sustainable Development Countermeasures

Shan Chong () and Huawen Xiong
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Shan Chong: Energy Research Institute, China Academy of Macroeconomic Research, Beijing 100038, China
Huawen Xiong: Energy Research Institute, China Academy of Macroeconomic Research, Beijing 100038, China

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: The global plastic pollution control process has put forward higher requirements for waste plastic reduction and recycling. This study evaluated the plastic demands by 2030 and 2050 in China based on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, identified the four consumption terminals, and put forward countermeasures for the sustainable development of the plastics industry. The results show that based on the analysis of China’s low-carbon transition and global plastic pollution control policies, the reasonable demands for plastic will reach 118 and 110 million tons by 2030 and 2050, respectively. The packaging, construction and decoration, electronics and appliance, and automobile areas are the four major terminals of plastic consumption in China, accounting for more than 80% of the total plastic consumption. The enhanced implementation of the policy of banning and restricting plastic bags will lead to a significant drop in the consumption of disposable packaging plastics, while the low-carbon transformation of the whole society will promote the realization of low-energy consumption in the field of construction, the automobile industry toward lightweight materials, and electronics and appliance products toward high quality, thus further stimulating the related plastics demand. Finally, countermeasures for the sustainable development of plastic are proposed.

Keywords: plastics; demand; consumption terminal; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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