Fracking for Plastics: Exposing the Supply Chain Behind the Global Plastic Crisis
A new investigation by Stand.earth Research Group (SRG) and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) exposes the toxic supply chain fueling global plastic production, shedding new light on the critical players driving the plastics and climate crises.
The research reveals that some of the world’s largest household brands are driving fossil fuel expansion in Texas through their demand for plastic packaging. The brands’ reliance on fracked gas for plastic production is worsening the plastic crisis, harming communities, and accelerating catastrophic climate breakdown.
The findings were used to build the Fracked Plastics Map, an interactive tool that traces the connections between more than 25 major consumer brands—including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé—and petrochemicals sourced from fracking in Texas’ Permian Basin, including major intermediaries.
Key Findings
Direct pipeline from fracking to plastic packaging
The Permian Basin in Texas — already the world’s largest source of oil and gas pollution and home to some of the worst air quality in the U.S. — now supplies a significant portion of petrochemical feedstocks used in global plastic production, underscoring plastics’ role as a key driver of the climate crisis.
Hidden role of major companies
A small group of traders and exporters moves ethane from U.S. fracking wells to petrochemical plants in Europe and Asia, fueling the production of plastic packaging. Without supply chain transparency, major players will continue to profit while communities bear the consequences.
25+ global brands fueling fracked plastics crisis
Major consumer brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé, use petrochemicals tied to fracking in order to make their single-use plastic packaging, driving continued fossil fuel extraction and expansion.
The Growing Costs of Petrochemical Production
The expansion of petrochemical infrastructure is driving fossil fuel dependence, accelerating the climate crisis, and devastating communities. Petrochemicals are on track to become the largest driver of global oil and gas consumption— with their growth outpacing that of vehicles, aviation, and shipping—yet their role in fueling the crisis often goes unnoticed.
In Texas, petrochemical facilities pollute the air and contaminate water supplies, disproportionately impacting frontline communities. At the same time, the surge in plastic production accelerates plastic pollution, worsening an already out-of-control crisis.
On the other side of the Atlantic—where many European countries have banned fracking due to its catastrophic environmental and health impacts—European companies purchase hydrocarbons fracked abroad to fuel their plastic production. By outsourcing extraction and processing, they shift the environmental destruction and health burdens and costs onto communities elsewhere—like those in Texas.
A Global Crisis Demands Global Action
This research maps the fracked-gas-to-plastic supply chain originating from a single region in Texas. While Texas is a leading producer, accounting for more than 80% of the global ethane trade, the petrochemical and plastics crises are global. The plastic supply chain is deeply interconnected, and plastic pollution chokes communities and ecosystems worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for a Global Plastics Treaty to cut plastic production at the source.
This investigation is a wake-up call: The world’s biggest brands are complicit in driving fossil fuel expansion, yet their supply chain remains largely opaque, preventing accountability. This crisis demands transparency and an ambitious plastics treaty that holds corporate polluters accountable, protects impacted communities, and cuts plastic production across the entire supply chain.
Explore the Fracked Plastics Map to see the direct links between US fracked gas and the plastic packaging used by major brands around the world.
Implications
The majority of household brands named in this research have made voluntary pledges to address the plastic pollution their products cause, including reducing their use of virgin plastic. Yet several have actually increased their annual plastic use, and all the companies continue to rely on single-use plastic. Studies show that there is a one-to-one relationship between a company's annual production of plastic and the amount of that company's branded plastic found in the environment.
A binding Global Plastics Treaty is essential to hold these companies accountable and cut plastic production at the source.
This investigation comes at a critical moment, as EU politicians push to boost European industries—including plastic and petrochemicals— while simultaneously introducing new decarbonization measures. Any meaningful effort to decarbonize European industries must account for the full impact of their supply chain and the far-reaching consequences of their operations.
This investigation exposes how petrochemical companies such as Ineos — one of Europe’s largest producers of plastic feedstocks — are deeply dependent on fracked hydrocarbons from Texas for their plastic production. Despite branding its under-construction Project One facility as one of Europe’s most sustainable petrochemical plants, the findings make one thing clear: no petrochemical project can be considered "green" if it relies on fossil fuel-derived feedstocks that harm communities, accelerate the climate crisis and fuel global plastic pollution. The weight of this injustice extends far beyond Texas, underscoring how global supply chains perpetuate environmental harm under the guise of sustainability.
