The circular economy involves recycling, reusing, and repurposing products to extend their usable lifetime.

Among the oil and gas industry’s conventional products, plastics are the most relevant to the circular economy.

The use of plastics has skyrocketed in the last few decades and has accelerated plastic pollution in the soil and aquatic environments.

As awareness about the ill effects of plastic use grows among consumers, several countries and also some enterprises are taking steps to remedy the situation while ensuring the economic activity that is reliant on plastics.

The detrimental effects of plastic waste and the limited nature of fossil fuels used for plastic production have prompted efforts to achieve sustainability with plastics.

This involves reducing plastic waste from going to landfills, being incinerated, and largely being mismanaged.

There is a need to improve plastic waste and facilitate recycling, extending its usable lifetime.

This can alleviate demand pressure on virgin plastic that annually enters the market.

Several economies are taking steps to limit their plastic pollution and encourage a circular plastic economy.

Companies are also working to find suitable alternatives to minimise the dependence on plastic made from conventional methods.

Approaches such as mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and bioplastic production are prevalent in this context among some of the oil and gas players.

The use of bioplastics in particular is an emerging trend in the plastics industry.

Growing awareness and demand for circular economy solutions, especially regarding plastics, presents several long-term opportunities for oil and gas companies.

Companies can invest in the production of circular polymers, thereby making it easier to recycle plastics.

There is considerable scope to increase the recycling capacities of companies, allowing them to fulfil ESG goals by reducing virgin plastic production.

Further discussion on the circular economy and the role of the oil and gas industry in promoting a circular plastic economy can be found in leading data and analytics company GlobalData’s new theme report, Circular Economy in Oil and Gas.