The U.S. plastics industry accounted for more than a million jobs and $548.2 billion in shipments in 2022, according to the annual “Size & Impact” report compiled by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS).
Those totals grow to 1.59 million jobs and $677.8 billion in shipments when suppliers of goods and services to the plastics industry are included.
The report used the North American Industry Classification system to determine that 398 companies were operating in the U.S. in 2022 to produce machinery, equipment and parts to make plastic products. These companies employed approximately 12,300 people and tallied $4.886 billion in shipments.
Manufacturing of plastic products accounted for 10,187 companies, 677,000 employees and more than $287 billion in shipments in 2022. The plastic products portion was the seventh-largest industry in the country in gross output in 2021, the latest year for which data is available.
The plastics industry has a presence in all 50 states, led by Texas with 75,900 employees, followed by Ohio, California, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Employment in plastics manufacturing grew 1.3 percent per year from 2012 to 2022.
Perc Pineda, chief economist for PLASTICS, noted in the Executive Summary of the report that growth is expected to slow in 2023 and 2024 due to a weaker domestic and global economic environment. The labor shortage will continue to be a headwind, he said.
The Executive Summary and the complete report are available at www.plasticsindustry.org/data-report/size-and-impact-2023/.
