Most plastic packaging is used only once, within six months of its manufacture, making packaging in 2015 the source of 47% of the world’s plastic waste.

This report explores the technical feasibility of phasing out packaging made from fossil plastic by 2050. Part of a broader research project investigating the technical potential for the phase-out of virgin plastics made from fossil fuels, the study presents a low-plastic-consumption vision for 2050 that is compatible with containing the rise in average global temperature to 1.5°C. In this scenario, there would be an 80% reduction in the consumption of single-use packaging by 2050 compared with a business-as-usual scenario.