A Few Fast Facts on... Plastics and the Economy

• The plastics industry the third largest manufacturing industry in the United States, providing significantly to the nation's economy.
• The U.S. plastics industry employs nearly 900 thousand workers.
• The U.S. plastics industry creates more than $380 billion in annual shipments.
• There are nearly 18,500 plastics facilities in the United States.
• The U.S. plastics industry had a $16.2-billion trade surplus in 2010.
• The plastics industry has a presence in every state.
• From 1980 to 2010, U.S. plastics industry shipments have grown at a 2.4 percent annual rate.
• From 1980 to 2010, productivity in plastics manufacturing has grown 2.3 percent per year, which is better than the 1.9 percent per year productivity growth for manufacturuing as a whole.

The above information came from SPI's Statsitical Reports on the U.S. plastics industry, which also include individual state data