PLASTICS cites resilience in new “Size and Impact Report”

Outside indicates point to slowdown, but industry commands prominence in U.S. economy.

Sept. 18, 2025

2 min read

While acknowledging “economic headwinds,” Matt Seaholm, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), praised the industry’s resilience during an event discussing the association’s “2025 Size and Impact Report.”

Released on Sept. 16, the report highlights the industry’s prominence within the U.S. economy. For example:

Last year, it accounted for more than 1,066,500 jobs and $550.7 billion in shipments, not counting the impact of suppliers to the industry. When suppliers are added in, plastics-related jobs number 1.71 million, and total shipments stand at $754.5 billion.

From 2014 to 2024, plastics manufacturing employment grew 1.3 percent per year, outpacing total manufacturing, which experienced only a 0.5 percent increase.

As measured by gross output, the plastic products portion of the plastics industry was the eighth largest U.S. industry in 2023, the latest year for which such data was available.

While the plastics industry has a presence throughout the country, the states with the most employees last year were, in order, Texas, Ohio, Michigan, California and Pennsylvania.

“This year’s report once again confirms the resilience of the U.S. plastics industry. Its economic impact, in some respects outpacing total manufacturing, has remained positive for many years and is unlikely to change in the future,” said PLASTICS Chief Economist Perc Pineda.

However, other recent reports have signaled weakness in the economy. For example, a Wipfli survey of of people at 285 locations across 249 companies found that, among plastics processors, metal formers, die casters, tool builders, contract machinists and other manufacturers, profitability is mostly flat. According to the Wipfli report, released in August, capacity utilization had fallen to 53 percent. But that’s still better than what a Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing poll found a few weeks earlier, when two-thirds of respondents said they had open capacity.